


The Treasure of the Regal Hotel

by TheWanderingPiney



Series: Hex Girls [2]
Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28945830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWanderingPiney/pseuds/TheWanderingPiney
Summary: After suffering a  traumatic blow at the hands of the Fallen, Thorn must find a hidden treasure located at a historic hotel with alleged ties to the cult before an unfortunate fate befalls the band. With new and old allies at their side, can the Hex Girls find the treasure or will they fall victim to the dangers that lurk in the shadows? Sequel to Occult Nights.
Series: Hex Girls [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123067
Kudos: 2





	1. When the Witch Cries

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I hope everyone is well. It's nice to be publishing again after my long hiatus. Anyway, this a direct sequel to my first fic, Occult Nights, so I strongly recommend reading that beforehand, though it is not necessary to enjoy this fic. M rating is for language, drug use, violence, and other mature themes. I hope you enjoy the story and feedback is always welcome.
> 
> ~The Wandering Piney

"Where am I!?" Thorn gasped as she found herself suddenly awake. She sat up and looked around. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she saw nothing but a vast, inky-black void that seemed to pulsate as if it were alive.

"This is just a dream…" she said as she closed her eyes. "You're still in bed at the hotel. Just wake up."

Thorn almost fell down as the void violently rocked as it rhythmically rose and fell while loud booms echoed throughout the emptiness. Thorn tensed up when she realized what she was hearing. Laughter. Deep and powerful. Inhuman and omnipresent, it was as if the void itself found her comments funny. A joke even.

"This can't be happening," Thorn grunted as she opened her eyes to face whatever was with her.

The laughter and the trembling died down, allowing Thorn to catch her balance.

"Oh, but it is Sally."

A chill went down her spine as she recognized the otherworldly voice she thought she would never hear again. Instead, it only took four days for it to find her. Thorn shook her head. _Don't be afraid of this bastard. You beat it before._ Thorn clenched her fists as she turned around to confront the entity known as the Fallen that had put her, Dusk, and Luna through living hell. Literally. She and Dusk burnt at the stake because they refused to submit to the entity's will.

Thorn shielded her face with her arm as she blinded by a fiery light. Squinting, she lowered her arm a bit to see the darkness part ways like a curtain. There she saw a massive, fiery sphere that shone a brilliant crimson and gold, its surface an ever-shifting conglomerate of shapes, forms, and images. She felt tiny and insignificant like she was as if she was standing before a blood-stained sun. The light grew, enveloping the darkness and becoming formless, the images she saw morphing into unfamiliar forms that followed some unknown logic that gave her a headache just by watching. 

"How is this possible?" Thorn said with as much courage as she could muster.

"Awww, you really think that low of me?" the Fallen sighed in disappointment. "Nothing is impossible for me and I did say I'd see you again."

"But we destroyed the crystal. You died," Thorn said in an attempt to reassure herself that the Fallen was gone.

"Oh you naïve girl, death is irrelevant to me," the Fallen said. The light resided, returning to its fiery sphere, and moved closer to her, like it was leaning forward. "All you did to me… was break my phone."

"But…you need a vessel," Thorn stammered.

The void shook as the Fallen fell into a hysterical fit of laughter. "I'm way ahead of you Sally."

Thorn froze. _That was my own voice_. She was uncontrollably shaking. She wrapped her arms around herself. _No, no, no, no._

"Oh yes, yes, yes," the Fallen mocked in Thorn's voice. "How about I let you see what I see in the real world."

Thorn looked back at the fiery sphere. The crimson and gold flames expanded and consumed her. She felt no pain and a moment later, she was looking at herself in the bathroom mirror of her hotel room.

She tried to look around but was still. _Why can't I move? Huh? I can't speak. I...I can't feel my body. I can't feel anything! What's happening!?_

Her reflection smirked as a brief shimmer of gold and crimson flashed over her eyes. Her reflection adjusted the black nightgown she was wearing before her head began to turn. Thorn watched in horror as the mirror disappeared from sight and she was looking at her hotel through the open bathroom door. After a moment, the mirror came back into view and she could see her reflection again.

"I gotta say, Sally, you're a good look for me," the Fallen said as it put its arms on the counter and leaned closer to the mirror, laughing.

Thorn felt a sense of dread that would've made her stomach turn if she had one as she realized that she wasn't looking at her reflection but rather the Fallen's.

_You're… you're possessing me._

The Fallen smirked. "Took ya long enough."

_No… this...can't be._

The Fallen rolled its eyes and laughed. "Oh Sally, you know it's true. You should be thankful I'm even letting you have a sense of being."

Fallen continued to laugh as it went through the various make-up containers on the counter and tossed them onto the ground when they disinterested it. Thorn wanted to throw up. She felt disgusted. Ashamed. Violated even.

_Get out!_

"Hmm. What was that?" the Fallen mocked as it raised a hand to its ear. "You're a tiny, insignificant thought in the back of my head, you need to speak up more."

_It's my head so get the fuck out!_

The Fallen frowned and shook its head. "No, no I don't think I will." The Fallen picked up one of Thorn's darker lipsticks—one that was close to crimson— and smiled. But rather than applying it, it snapped its fingers and its lips changed to the color.

"Better," the Fallen said, pouting its lips. "Now I think I'll try something different with your hair."

_Just get out!_

The Fallen smirked. "Make me."

Thorn hesitated. She had no idea how to remove the Fallen. She was riding in the backseat of her own body, completely at the whims of the Fallen.

"That's what I thought…" the Fallen said. The entity turned away from the mirror and walked into the hotel room. It was still dark and a little bit of streetlight shown through a gap in the curtains somewhat illuminating the room. Thorn's bed was empty, the sheets hanging off the mattress. The Fallen turned and approached the second bed where Luna was still sound asleep. If she still had a heart, it would've skipped a beat as the Fallen grabbed a pillow and stood beside Luna.

"What would you do if I, like, smothered Kim with this pillow?" it cheerfully asked as it placed the pillow on Luna's face. Luna didn't wake.

_Get away from her!_

"When she wakes and struggles, I can say 'Sorry Kim, I'm thinking about going solo.' I'd love to see her face when she hears that in your voice. Maybe I'll make the pillow clear," the Fallen said in excitement.

_No!_

The Fallen raised its hand and sparks of blue energy emanated from its fingers.

"There's the magic," the Fallen said with glee. "I was waiting for you to use it."

Thorn could feel her magic. Powerful and determined. How she felt it and how it was manifesting, she didn't know and she didn't care; her only goal was to attack the Fallen and save Luna. The magic enveloped the Fallen's hand, casting the room with a bluish glow.

_I'll stop you!_

"Go ahead Sally, unleash your magic," the Fallen said. It sat down on the floor and aimed its hand at its head. "Strike me down and I promise you, I'll leave."

Her rage was boiling, her magic fueling it; it was like pouring lighter fluid into a fire. The energy grew brighter and flame-like. This was it. All she could see was her magic and all she felt was anger.

"Hurry up, this is the only chance you'll get," the Fallen goaded.

Thorn grunted. _As you fucking wish._

The energy swirled around her hand in a hateful furry. It was only a matter of seconds before the beam of energy struck the Fallen. _Wait. The Fallen's looking at my bed. That means it's next to...No!_ The jettison of magical energy stopped midway between the Fallen and its face.

"Awww, what's a matter Sally?" the Fallen teased.

_You fucking bastard. You're next to Luna. I would've hurt Luna._

The Fallen laughed and turned its head. Luna was right there, less than a foot away, sound asleep. At that distance, Thorn's attack would do more than hurt Luna.

_You tried to make me kill Luna!_

The Fallen laughed. "No, I didn't. You could've told me to move or keep Kim safe, and I'd happily oblige. But you didn't think to do that. You were too busy being angry and spiteful. You almost killed your friend."

 _Shut up!_ The jolt of energy inched closer to the Fallen.

"Hahaha, I love seeing you angry," the Fallen laughed. "You show your true self as a witch. And just like every other mage, all you do is hurt, kill and destroy."

 _No._ The magic fizzled out and Thorn no longer felt her magic.

"That's right killer," the Fallen chuckled. "You're just another murdering mage. And cruel one at that. You killed poor Cyrus after you took everything away from him: his friends, his support network, his way of life; you even got the woman he loved killed. He dwelled in anguish before you finally took his life away."

Thorn sighed. She wanted to deny the Fallen and call it a liar. But the entity was right. She did kill. Four days ago. She ended the life of another human being with magic. Sure, he had tried to attack her, Dusk and Luna, but it was the last Wiccan ideal she held onto during their ordeal with the cult. The only standard separating her from all the mages she met. It was her one rule. And she broke it.

"Look at that, you're not even denying it," the Fallen said. "That means you've accepted who you are."

 _No!_ _I didn't mean to kill him!_ She paused. She realized what the Fallen was doing. _You want me to get angry just so you can torment me. I won't let you do that anymore. Not if it means I'll hurt Luna._

"Is that so? No comments about how you're not a witch," the Fallen said.

Thorn said nothing.

"Ugh! You're boring," the Fallen groaned as it removed the pillow from Luna's face and tossed it aside. "No matter, Kim is more useful to me alive than dead." The Fallen patted the sleeping girl's head and turned away.

Thorn sighed as the Fallen left Luna asleep and returned to the bathroom, where it stood in front of the mirror.

"You know what Sally, I think I'll just stick around for a while," the Fallen said.

 _No, you're going get out and leave us alone_ Thorn demanded. _Your followers are dead and you have no one left. Just rot in your damned prison._

The Fallen chuckled. "You only killed like seventy of my followers; I still have thousands left." The Fallen leaned closer to the mirror. "But it doesn't matter, you have an entire fandom out there that I'll convert into loyal worshipers."

_Y-you... wouldn't._

"I would and I will," the Fallen said. The cosmic snapped its fingers and a chair appeared in the bathroom. The Fallen sat down and crossed its legs. "It's really simple: I put on the Thorn mask and then continue the tour posing as you. I'll get my current followers to bring me a certain item to boost my power a bit and then I'll have no problems indoctrinating the masses into becoming my faithful servants; hell in a few weeks I could probably have the entire nation working to free me!"

Thorn grunted. _Nobody will believe that you're me!_

The Fallen simply raised its hand and its fingernails turned crimson. "Everyone will."

_You don't have my skills._

The Fallen rolled its eyes and changed the color of its nails on the other hand to crimson. "Please, I led an eight billion year-long war against the infinite forces of the Light; I think I can handle writing a few songs, singing, and looking sexy."

 _You…didn't even win that wa_ r. Thorn found it difficult to think. _You can't be a Hex Girl._

The Fallen chuckled before it sat up and cleared its throat. "I'm a Hex Girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you!"

Thorn felt uneasy as the Fallen sang, hitting every note perfectly. The Fallen smirked.

 _Fuck you_. _Try writing an original piece. You won't get far without new material._

The Fallen smiled, eager to take on Thorn's challenge. It sat back down and a piece of paper appeared on the counter. It pulled a pen from literally thin air and began writing notes.

"Hmm, let's see. What do I want to sing about?" The Fallen said as it scratched its head. "My greatness? Mmm, a little too early for that. Let's think gothic, witchy, magic. Aha! I do love putting curses on people." The Fallen smiled. "Loving Curses? Nah, too weird for human standards. Curse of Love? Too similar to another song. Love's Curse? Hmm, that could work!"

Thorn watched in terror as the Fallen penned more notes and lyrics. The entity hummed a few tunes and slowly but surely a song began to form.

"I put a curse on you!

A curse of love

A curse on you!

A curse from above!

There's a curse on you

And you'll never know

How fast, how fast, how your life will go-oh!"

 _Fuck that's actually pretty catchy._ She hated that the new song taking shape before her was decent and matched her own songwriting style. The song itself wasn't as great as "Hex Girl" or their earlier works but the lyrics were catchy and with the Hex Girls name attached to it, it'd sell.

"That's pretty good for something I wrote in two minutes!" the Fallen exclaimed, holding up the finished song to the mirror. "Needs a little editing here and there, but I'll deal with that later."

 _It's…okay_ Thorn begrudgingly replied. _I'm… gonna steal it when I kick you out of me. You don't get any fucking credit._

The Fallen laughed. "That's a good one but we already established that you can't do that."

Thorn sniffled.

"Now, Sally," the Fallen asked. "When was the last time you changed your outfit? You've been using that same dress for years. I think it's time for an update."

If she could, Thorn would've smirked. That dress was iconic. When people saw it, they knew it was Thorn. It was her style. The idea of changing was ridiculous; Gus once had them change outfits for a show in California a few years back. Sure it was different from her usual getup, and she was rather fond of that black dress and the red knee-high socks she wore, but their fans hated it. There were massive outcries and demand for their original outfits. That was the last time they wore something different on stage.

 _Good luck with that_. _Fan's hated that when we tried it last time._

"I'm aware," the Fallen said. "That outfit was too different from your original; I'll need something much closer to your original dress."

The Fallen snapped its fingers and the simple black nightgown it was wearing was replaced with an outfit Thorn had never seen before. The Fallen was wearing a black bodysuit with a mesh top and sleeves. A pair of red knee-high boots and black, fingerless gloves finished off the outfit.

Thorn was shocked. The outfit itself was her style and she looked pretty good in it. It had the original's vibe and color scheme yet was still unique; while it would never top the original, it was a damn good second that her fans would enjoy.

The Fallen then picked up Thorn's jewelry box and opened it. The entity pulled out Thorn's ruby bat necklace and held it to its neck. "Nah, it's a bit too you," the Fallen said before tossing the necklace into the trash. The Fallen leaned back in the chair, an eager smile on its face, and it waited for Thorn's response.

Thorn wanted to scream and retrieve the necklace her mother gave her when she was young. She began cursing the Fallen but stopped after a couple of swears. Thorn didn't want to let the Fallen get the best of her. She needed to stay focused and find a crack in the Fallen's plan. _Just_ _because you have my body and skills doesn't mean you're me._ _You're nothing like me. You're so full of yourself that you'll slip up, and then everyone will know that something is wrong_.

The Fallen rolled its eyes. "No one is going to realize anything."

_People will._

The Fallen sighed. "You don't get it, do you?"

_Get what?_

"That 'Thorn' isn't real."

_You're insane. I am Thorn._

The Fallen chuckled. " Oh Sally, 'Thorn' is a persona, a mask you wear on stage. You pretend to be her, but you're not her."

_Shut up! That's not true! You're just trying to torment me._

The Fallen rolled its eyes. "'Thorn' is a confident, classy, and empowered woman who inspires others while you're a selfish, reckless girl who can't follow her own morality and is terrified of herself; you two couldn't further apart."

_No… I...I_

"Pft! You can't even defend yourself cause you know I'm right," Fallen said with a smirk. The entity leaned back in the chair and put its feet on the counter. "As I've established, I can play the role of Thorn, I just need to keep it up for a couple of years at most."

_Even if the bullshit you spat out was true, Luna and Dusk will see right through you, and they'll beat you for the second time._

"Hmm, I'll concede that Kim and Jane will require more effort to dupe, but you really think I can't impersonate Sally McKnight as well?" the Fallen said as it adjusted its collar. "I'm possessing you, Sally, I have access to all your memories and thoughts." The Fallen looked at the mirror and smirked. "If anything, I'm more you than you."

_You can't possibly know everything about me._

The Fallen sighed and looked at the mirror. "You're still upset about your kitten Nightshade running away when you were six. You came up with the name 'Thorn' when you were eleven because roses were the last flowers you were able to grow in mommy's garden. It took you two years to realize that your date with Jane's brother James at the end of middle school was a pity date cause she had teased you about liking him in front of him. Um, what else? Oh in ninth grade you pretty much told your former friend Xander she can't play in the band due to her stage fright, never once helping her overcome it. You still hate amusement parks cause that carnie Knuckles Wazinski dumped you for a carnival ride. And let's not forget about how your first long-term relationship ended when what's his name, oh right Alastair, moved to Europe at the end of twelfth grade; you were so distraught when he sent you that final letter that you almost didn't sign your studio contract. You lied about making a CD when you first met Mystery Inc cause you wanted to seem professional. And then... "

Thorn remained in dreadful silence as the Fallen continued to name and describe in frightening detail Thorn's most intimate and significant moments in her life. With each moment mentioned, it was like tearing an old wound open and she was drowning in an ocean of past emotions. She desperately tried to find some semblance of hope, a metaphorical life preserver, for her predicament. But it seemed hopeless; the Fallen really did know everything about her. But in what seemed like her darkest hour, she saw one last light in the inky darkness and made her final play.

_You might have my memories but can't match my behaviors and personality. You can't be me._

"Oh but I've saved the best for last, " the Fallen said with a smirk and its eyes briefly glowed crimson and gold.

Thorn wanted to both cry in a corner and punch the Fallen yet she could do neither. All she could do was prepare herself for whatever the Fallen was going to throw at her and hope for a miracle.

The Fallen snapped its fingers. There was a brief moment of darkness followed by a bright light. Thorn blinked, gasping at the realization she had a physical form again. She patted herself, confirming that she wasn't hallucinating or under an illusion. She was back but where was she?

She could hear a TV blaring-a New England Patriots game by the sound of it- and glancing at the source of the noise confirmed it. She was in a simple yet strangely familiar living room. A couple of sofas with leafy designs on them. An armchair in the corner of the room with a red blanket haphazardly thrown on the seat, a blanket that resembled the one she liked to wrap herself in as a child and then sit on her father's lap, always when he tried to watch the game, and tell him about all the herbs her mother was growing in the garden or the candles she'd help her mother make.

But Thorn gasped at what she saw on the chair: a small, handcrafted doll wearing a black dress. Its eyes were black buttons and a pair of little fangs jutted out from its sewn smile.

Thorn walked over to the vampire doll and picked it up with a trembling hand. "This...this isn't possible," she stammered, still holding the doll.

"I gotta admit Sally, you buried this deep; the fact that I was only able to find it after possessing you is remarkable."

Thorn looked up and saw herself dressed in that new outfit sitting in the armchair, but the quick flash of crimson and gold in her eyes revealed her true identity.

"Where am I?" Thorn asked, her voice still shaken from her surroundings.

The Fallen frowned. "Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly where you are."

Thorn glanced around and saw more familiar sites: the large pentacle made of twigs woven together that hung on the wall; the various white candles placed on the various countertops that left the smell of sage lingering in the room; the toy broom leaning against the front door that she'd pretend to fly on in the front yard when it was warm.

Thorn shook her head, still visibly shaking. "No, this is impossible."

The Fallen rolled its eyes and motioned toward the kitchen.

"To love the Earth is our one desire."

Thorn's heart nearly skipped a beat and she dropped the vampire doll. She hadn't heard that in almost two decades. Not the song, obviously, but the voice that sang her that lyric long ago from a hymn she couldn't remember. That voice. That beautiful, soothing voice. Thorn's legs were wobbling and she felt winded like she just ran a marathon.

"Is it…" she began, wiping a tear from her eye. She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Go see for yourself," the Fallen said.

Thorn slowly approached the kitchen and the singing grew louder. The apprehension was killing her; she could barely walk and she had to stop when she reached the kitchen. A small wall blocked her view, but Thorn knew who was in the kitchen. She closed her eyes and gulped. This was it. The moment of truth. She opened her eyes and rounded the corner.

With teary eyes, Thorn saw her. She was wearing a green sweater with black leggings. She wore her pentacle necklace, the one that Thorn would beg her to wear. Her ravenette hair was tied in a French braid and she still had a slight tan from working in her garden out back all summer. She was taking several cookies from a tray and placing them in a decorative cookie tin next to a bundle of flowers and a homemade candle.

"Mom…" Thorn stuttered, her face was flushed and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

The woman stopped and turned around. She was smiling, as usual, and Thorn could see the crescent moon earrings that contrasted with her emerald eyes.

"There's my little Wiccan," she said with outstretched arms.

Thorn smiled. The flood of emotions she felt was overwhelming. It was almost twenty years since she last saw her. She cried and laughed, and didn't say anything. She simply ran toward her mother, ready to embrace her.

But Thorn's heart sank as she passed through her mother like she wasn't even there. She gazed into her empty arms with a look of sheer terror on her face. _No._ Thorn turned around. Her mother remained in her pose, never once turning around. Instead, Thorn watched as a small girl, no more than five or six years old, wearing a pair of black pajamas and an oversized witch hat that covered most of her face run into her mother's arms. The girl giggled in her mother's embrace and a tiny, black kitten followed her into the kitchen.

"She never saw me," Thorn whimpered to herself.

"It sure sucks being a passive observer, doesn't it," the Fallen snickered, as it leaned against the counter, eating a cookie.

Thorn gritted her teeth as she glared at the entity impersonating her; it merely smirked in response.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Thorn grunted.

The Fallen finished its cookie and walked toward her. "Do yourself a favor and just enjoy this happy moment."

Thorn hesitated. She knew there was more to this, and she hated to admit it, but the Fallen had a point. Her mother was here, and even if she couldn't hug her, she could still enjoy the memory.

Thorn turned back around. Her mother lifted the giant hat off the girl, revealing her grinning face. She had the same green eyes and black hair. Thorn's eyes widened as she realized who the girl was.

"Why aren't you in bed Sally?" her mother asked in a playful tone.

"I'm not tired yet," Sally said with a bright smile on her face.

"You're not?" her mother replied. "Even after all that gardening we did today?"

Thorn's younger self nodded with enthusiasm. "Daddy said I could stay up."

Thorn's mother raised an eyebrow. "He did?"

"I did."

Thorn turned and saw her father enter the kitchen. She was momentarily caught off guard by the lack of gray in her father's brown hair as she couldn't remember the last time it wasn't gray.

"And why would you do that?" her mother asked with a small smile as she released Sally from her hug.

"I tried putting her to bed," her father admitted. "But I barely made it to our room when I heard her running down the hallway. At that point, I figured I'd let her stay up a little longer so she could tire herself out."

Thorn's parents both smiled at her younger self, who was now sitting on the floor playing with the kitten. Thorn smiled and wiped her eyes. It had been so long since the three of them were together and she recalled many pleasant memories: helping her mother plant seeds in the herb garden during the spring and picking them in the summer and fall; her mother singing Wiccan hymns to her at night before she went to bed; her father pretending to be a vampire and chasing her in the living room. She remembered the long walks the three of them would go on in autumn where Thorn would collect the most colorful leaves and bring them home to make leaf collages with her parents. There was so much happiness back then, that it was hard to believe that it all happened in such a brief moment of time.

"Such a cute family," the Fallen mocked from behind. "I hope you're taking it all in."

The Fallen's comments shook Thorn from her reminiscing. She tried to ignore the Cosmic Entity and focus on her family, but the Fallen stepped into view.

"I could've given you this if you had submitted to me," the Fallen said.

Thorn scowled at the Fallen. "You could never replace what I had with my parents."

"Perhaps not, but I can bring your mother back."

Grunting, Thorn grabbed the Fallen by the shoulders and pushed it against the fridge. She pressed her arm against its throat, pinning it there. But the Fallen just smirked.

"Oh I love it when you get violent, it brings out the witch in you," the Fallen said, it's malicious grin growing wider. "Though I'm a little sad that you're not using magic."

"Shut up," Thorn grunted. She pressed her arm harder against the Fallen's throat.

"Why? Did I trigger you?" the Fallen quipped.

Thorn grimaced. "You're not going to use my mother as a bargaining chip against me and ruin my memory of her!"

It had taken many painful years to accomplish it, but Thorn did eventually come to terms with her mother's passing. It was difficult as a child, but she found solace in the Wiccan practices and teachings of her mother. By holding on to these beliefs, she was able to make peace with the loss of her mother.

"Now who said I was using her as a bargaining chip," the Fallen said.

Her grip on the Fallen loosened. "What do you mean?"

The Fallen chuckled. "You don't recognize this moment, do you?"

Thorn turned to her parents. Her mother had resumed filling the cookie tin with cookies while her father and her younger self were playing with Nightshade. There was nothing that stood out from the scene. Try as she might, Thorn couldn't recall this exact moment.

"I guess someone needs a reminder," the Fallen said.

Thorn heard the click of the cookie tin closing. Her mother placed a small card on the lid before tying it shut with a ribbon.

"Alright, I have to make a quick delivery," her mother said as she grabbed all the items and went to the closet by the front door to get her coat. "I won't be long."

"I wanna come," Sally cheered as she ran the closet to get her own coat.

"Sally sweetie, it's past your bedtime," her mother replied. "You need to go to bed."

Sally pouted. "But I'm not tired."

"Sally, you have school tomorrow and I don't want any trouble waking you up in the morning," her mother said.

Sally groaned. She stormed off to the kitchen table and promptly crawled under it. Nightshade quickly joined her there.

"How about a compromise," her father said. "We'll let you stay up later, but then you go to bed when mommy gets back."

"Good idea," her mother said with a smile. "Why don't you tell daddy all about the new herbal recipe we're trying."

Sally crawled out from under the table giggling. She immediately ran into the living room and Thorn heard her jump onto the armchair where she'd be waiting for her father to join her.

"Alright, I'm off to drop this off at Mrs. Anderson's, she just got home from the hospital," her mother said as she picked up the cookie tin.

"June, it's late; can't this wait till the morning?" her father asked, revealing his true opinion.

Her mother frowned. "You know I can't do that Patrick. She's done so much for us and she doesn't have anyone else who can help her."

 _Mrs. Anderson!?_ Mrs. Anderson was an elderly Wiccan Thorn's mother was close friends with. She'd helped Thorn's family numerous times and was even the person who gave her Nightshade. Thorn felt a shiver go down her spine and her eyes widened in fear. _If she just came home and my mom is going to visit her ..."_

"No," Thorn weakly mumbled as she stepped away from the Fallen.

"Good. You're remembering," the Fallen said. "Then you know what happens when mommy steps out that door."

Thorn heard the door open and she glanced at the door. Her mother was about to leave for the final time.

"Mommy!"

Thorn watched as her younger self ran past her and hugged her mother goodbye. It was a brief hug, like the ones she'd given her mother nearly every time she went out.

"I love you sweetie." Her mother released Sally and exited the house.

As the door slowly closed, a tiny, instinctive thought popped into Thorn's mind: _save her._ Heart racing, Thorn bolted for the door, the shrinking view of her mother made her quicken her pace. But as she reached the door, it closed and her mother was gone forever. She grabbed the doorknob, ready to swing it open and glimpse her mother one last time. _Stop. She's already gone._ She sighed and let go of the doorknob. She knew it was futile to chase down a memory, as that's all her mother was, a cherished memory.

"Part of me wanted you to try to save her," Fallen said in disappointment. "If only to mock you for your inevitable failure."

Thorn clenched her fists and faced the Fallen. "You're not going to tear open old wounds by making me relive the night my mother died. I know she's gone, I accepted it long ago, so you can't use her against me."

The Fallen gave a dismissive shrug. "Eh, it's not that important; I just thought it'd be fun to go see the wreck, maybe get you to hunt down the drunkard who killed her." The Fallen smirked. "You wanna know the real reason I brought you here?"

"I don't care, just go back to your prison," Thorn said with a grimace.

The Fallen snapped its fingers and they were at the edge of a cemetery. It was fall, the trees were red and orange, and a cool breeze blew through the cemetery. They were standing next to a white oak sapling. There was a small plaque on the ground that simply read "In Loving Memory of June McKnight" with a small pentacle underneath the writing.

Thorn smiled as she saw the sapling. Her mother's ashes were used in the planting of the sapling, which was grown from the acorns of the historic oak in town. It was her mother's way of returning to nature.

"I already told you, you can't use my mother against me," Thorn said without looking at the supernatural entity.

"I'm aware," the Fallen said. Curious, Thorn glanced at the entity and watched as it picked up a small bowl, disturbing an arrangement of flowers in the process.

Thorn's eyes widened as she recognized the bowl.

"You used this bowl for various Wiccan rituals, no?" the Fallen asked.

"Yeah and?" Thorn replied.

"And you'd perform them here. At first, it was with your dad once a week but then it became almost daily once you got older, correct?"

"Your point?"

The Fallen smirked. "This is how you deal with grief and trauma Sally, even when you were young."

Thorn took a step back from the Fallen, taken back by what it was saying. _Is this true?_ She'd never given this idea thought, but it was starting to make sense.

"This whole stroll down memory lane was to demonstrate that I know how you work Sally," the Fallen said, tossing the bowl back into the flower arrangement. "In the wake of trauma, you flee into familiarity and you let it consume you. When your mother died, you dove into your faith, praying, performing rituals, and all that other fun stuff every day until you moved on." The Fallen paused and approached Thorn. "And you were going to do the same after escaping my temple, though this time it was with music and your friendship with Kim and Jane, had I not possessed you."

Thorn shook her head and tried to speak, but all she managed to say was an incoherent stutter.

"You said it yourself to Kim and Jane during the trip back to Bolfied," the Fallen said. "No magic. No cults or gods; I don't even want to get answers to my magic or anything else. Just music and you two."

"I... I still don't see the point of all this other than to torment me," Thorn said, her voice slightly raised.

The Fallen chuckled. The world around grew dark and everything was quickly consumed by the inky darkness. Thorn was back in the void, unable to even see the world through the Fallen's eyes.

"In order to perfectly imitate you, I have to respond the way you do to trauma," the Fallen said. "So that's what I'll do. I'll dive into the music, the tour. I'll write song after song, and I'll make sure Jan-er Dusk and Luna are by my side the entire time. No magic. No powers. Just music and them. And they'll respect your, no my, wishes as they want that too. And then we'll move on from that horrific experience at the temple, as stronger people." The Fallen paused and Thorn could envision the entity's taunting smirk. "I can conduct my operations in secret as you often stay up later than them when working, so I'll do everything I need to free myself then. It'll be perfect. No one will ever know that I'm not you."

And with that, Thorn fell to her knees. She could no longer hold back the tears and she covered her face with her hands and wept. Not only could the Fallen perfectly imitate her in every way, but nobody would ever know that she was replaced with evil incarnate. Not her fans. Not Gus. Not her father back in Oakhaven. Not even Dusk and Luna. She kept crying. Everything that she was had become just a tool for manipulating others. And when Fallen was done, she was certain that it would discard her identity and body like a piece of garbage.

"I know it's tough," the Fallen said. "I'd rather not pretend to be a mortal, but I gotta do what I need to do to free myself." The Fallen sighed. "I actually wanted you to watch me go about turning your life into a tool of mass indoctrination but I've already broken you, so I'll just remove you now."

Thorn looked up into the void, tears streaming down her face. She felt momentarily cold before she felt nothing. Scared, she looked down and saw her legs were becoming transparent. Her eyes widened in panic as they slowly faded away. As the transparency crept up her form, she turned toward the Fallen and wept.

"What are you doing to me!?" Thorn cried.

"I'm erasing you, Sally," the Fallen explained as a bright crimson light shone and the sun-like projection of the entity returned. "Your soul will fade away into nothingness and there will be no afterlife for you. You will simply be gone and nobody will know or care."

"Please no," Thorn begged as her waist faded away.

"Hey, this could've been a lot more painful, so you're welcome," the Fallen said.

Crying and without any other options, Thorn clasped her fading hands together and prayed to the blue-gray entity that saved her from the rubble of the collapsing temple. _Please, if you're out there, help me. The Fallen is back and he's—_ the thought just ended. Try as she might, she just couldn't finish the prayer.

"No! Don't you try pulling that bullshit again," the Fallen growled. At least she got the Fallen pissed enough to stop it from speaking with her voice. "You're going to fade away like a good little mortal and I'll—" the Fallen paused and the void shook. "Oh for fuck's sake, get the hell outta here you deus ex shit!"

Thorn looked up and saw that the crimson and gold flames had grown in a hateful fury that threatened to consume all.

It became silent and Thorn looked around but aside from the flaming mass, there was nothing but darkness.

"Hmm. I'm intrigued," the Fallen said to the unknown presence.

Thorn gasped as she felt a surge of energy wash over what was left of her and after a moment, her body (or perhaps soul) was restored. Knowing she wasn't fading away anymore, she turned to the Fallen.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Silence! The adults are talking." The Fallen disappeared into the darkness and Thorn was alone.

Without knowing what was happening, Thorn could only stand there, shaking. She wanted to know what was going on behind the scenes but knew there was no way to find out.

The Fallen emerged a few minutes later.

"Congratulations Sally, you get your body back," the Fallen said in a surprisingly neutral tone. "But before I leave, I want to give you something."

Thorn screamed as a searing pain overcame her shoulder. She fell onto her side clutching her shoulder. It was like the Fallen was burning something onto her skin. She continued to scream until the Fallen was done.

"So my loyal servant can find you later," the Fallen said.

Thorn glanced at her shoulder. There, scratched into her skin, was an oval overlaid upon the circle and a forked saltire. In the center of the oval, was a sun-like shape. She recognized it as the eye symbol she saw in the Fallen's temple.

"Till we meet again Sally," the Fallen said and in a flash of light, it was gone. The inky blackness of the void then slowly turned blue-gray.

At that moment, the pain subsided and Thorn felt at peace. Safe even. It was the same sensation she felt when the Broken, another deity that betrayed the Fallen long ago, had rescued her and her friends from the temple.

"Thank you," Thorn said into the void.

"This is how the Fallen found you," a new, powerful, and calming voice said. A shard of black crystal, no bigger than a grain of rice, appeared before her.

"The shard landed on you when you blew up the crystal connecting the Fallen to this world," the voice explained. "With it, it found and possessed you."

Thorn stared at the shard. She was in awe that such a tiny thing nearly ended her own existence. Blue flames quickly consumed the crystal shard and a few moments later, it was gone.

"There are no other crystals within your vicinity, so you and your friends are safe," the voice said. "I will construct a barrier around your mind that will prevent the Fallen from possessing you again."

Thorn sighed with relief as the Fallen would not be able to hurt her again.

"Thank you, but why are you doing this? I'm just one person," Thorn said.

"Let's just say, we have...mutual interests," the voice replied.

"I don't get it," Thorn said, shaking her head. "What interests do we have in common?"

There was a long silence before the voice spoke again.

"If you want to survive the unpleasant fate that's coming for you, find what is hidden at the Regal Hotel," the voice said.

The void seemed to move and Thorn felt that the entity was departing.

"Wait!" Thorn cried out. "What's coming? Where's the Regal Hotel? What do you want me to find there?"

The entity said nothing.

"Are you the Broken?" Thorn asked.

"Return to your body," the voice said.

Thorn gasped as she found herself on the bathroom floor panting and covered in sweat. There were no dark voids or supernatural entities, just the mess of cosmetics the Fallen had made on the floor. Thorn grabbed the chair the Fallen had willed into existence and pulled herself up. She saw her reflection. She was wearing the outfit the Fallen created.

With teary eyes, she undressed with haste. She gathered the unholy clothes and tossed them out of the bathroom before slamming the door behind her. She hobbled over to the counter. She saw herself in the mirror, the now reddening symbol the Fallen burnt onto her shoulder stood out against her pale skin. She continued to sob, her crying became too much that she could barely stand. She tried to walk away but she stumbled over. Thorn managed to catch herself on the counter, but she felt the paper with "Love's Curse!" written on it underneath her hand. She shouted as she crumpled the paper and threw it against the wall.

Thorn didn't know how long it took, but she eventually made it over to the bathtub. She turned the shower knob on and moments later, cold water was raining down.

As the shower warmed, Thorn stumbled back toward the counter. She opened the mirror, revealing a small medicine cabinet. With a shaking hand, she pulled out a small unlabeled bag containing a few dozen brown seeds, leftovers from a failed ritual, from behind her herbal jars. She removed five seeds from the bag. Thorn sobbed, her tears landing on the bag, as she picked up the seeds. _I'm sorry._ She knew what she was about to do was wrong, but she needed an escape from what the Fallen did to her.

Thorn started chewing the Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds. She lifted the toilet seat up, just in case she vomited. She then reached into the trash can and removed her necklace before climbing into the bathtub. She sat down, pulled her legs to her chest, and continued to cry, her tears lost in the hot water dripping down her face. She gripped her necklace with all her might, not wanting to let go. Hopefully, the coming trip would relieve her of the pain.


	2. One Bad Morning

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

Luna rolled over and groaned. She hit the alarm on her phone and brought the annoying buzz to an end. With the alarm off, she rolled back over and sighed. As much as she wanted to sleep in, she was certain Gus had something planned for them today. The redhead sat up and rubbed her eyes. Still groggy, she turned and saw Thorn's empty bed and heard the shower running. _Huh, I'm surprised she's up already._

Luna yawned, pulling the blankets off her and climbing out of bed. She briefly flinched when she stepped on a pillow from Thorn's bed.

"Weird," she mumbled as she picked up the pillow and returned it to Thorn's bed.

Yawning, Luna made her way to one of the dressers by the TV. She picked up a menu and skimmed through it. The hotel would deliver breakfast and dinner to guests and Luna was certain to take advantage of that. But as she was looking through the menu, she happened to notice some clothes outside the bathroom door.

"Those are new," she said, placing the menu down.

She walked over to the mysterious clothes and examined them. They looked good and felt rather comfortable. While the color scheme matched what Thorn would wear, Luna didn't recognize them. And if they were Thorn's, leaving them in a pile outside the bathroom wasn't something she'd do. Without much to go on, Luna shrugged; she could ask Thorn about them when she got out of the shower.

She headed back to the dresser and looked over the menu once more before deciding to have an omelet. Luna yawned as she then opened a drawer and picked out her clothes. Given she had no plans other than relaxing on the tour bus, she opted for a pair of black sweatpants and a purple t-shirt. She dressed and once she was done, she used the TV screen as a makeshift mirror to fix her hair. She sighed as she combed her hair so it would obscure her bruised eye she received the other night when escaping from the cultists. She wasn't fond of this look, but it was an easy way to hide her black eye from the public and avoid people questioning her about it.

She finished with her hair and turned toward the bathroom. "Jeez, she's still in there." Shaking her head, Luna sat on the end of her bed and checked her emails on her phone. There was nothing but junk and her attention soon drifted toward the book on the nightstand. _Dark Secrets of the Forgotten Gods_ by Alexander Levre. The only book on magic that Thorn didn't throw out, and only because Luna took it. Part of her wished she'd let Thorn trash it so that the memory of what happened to them would be far behind them and they could move on. But Luna was cautious. She figured if there was one group of cultists, there'd be others. The book was quite clear on that. There were others out there and Luna wanted to learn everything she could about them so she could protect her friends from them. But details were scant; Levre was cryptic, writing in metaphor more about the Fallen and the other deities rather than the cult when he wasn't rambling on about nonsensical rituals and cosmologies.

"Hey did you guys order breakfast yet?"

The sudden but familiar voice broke Luna from her thoughts and she quickly turned to face the door. The door swung open and Dusk walked in carrying two hastily packed duffle bags which she tossed into the corner of the room. She was wearing a black jacket and a dark green skirt with black knee-high boots that had too many straps on them.

"Good morning to you too," Luna quipped. "And no we didn't. I just got up and Thorn's in the shower."

"Oh, well get on that. I'm feeling some pancakes today," Dusk replied as she briefly stepped back into the hallway before returning with another two duffel bags that she proceeded to drop in the middle of the floor.

"Can you not leave them there?" Luna with a sigh.

"Where do you want me to put them?" Dusk asked, picking up her bags.

"Um, your room," Luna said.

Dusk shrugged and just dragged the two bags she brought in to the other side of the room. "Can't. Gus canceled the payment on my room."

"And what did you do to make him do that?" Luna asked.

"I accidentally used the band's credit card to buy booze," Dusk said, dropping her bags in the corner of the room.

Luna shook her head. "So pay back the band and give Gus the card."

Dusk nervously laughed. "Well, um, that's gonna be difficult."

Luna rolled her eyes and sighed. "What on earth did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Dusk exclaimed as she went to get her remaining bags. She returned a few seconds later with two more bags. "But the guy I hooked up with last night after the show _might_ have stolen the band credit card and my own."

Luna shook her head and palmed her forehead. Such a scenario could only happen to Dusk. "You have terrible taste in men."

"Eh, it was worth it," Dusk said with a shrug as she tossed her last bags onto the others before hopping onto Thorn's bed. She grabbed the TV remote and started flipping through the channels.

"Did you cancel your card and do you remember the guy's name?" Luna asked, knowing full well she'd have to fix this mess.

"Yup. I called and it's canceled," Dusk answered as she continued to scroll through the TV channels. "And no, I don't remember his name."

Luna sighed. At least Dusk somewhat fixed her own problem, even if she probably didn't learn anything from this ordeal.

"Ya wanna order breakfast now?" Dusk asked without looking up from the TV.

"Phone's right next to you," Luna replied

Dusk groaned and Luna simply ignored her. The redhead turned her attention back to the clothes on the floor. She picked the dress up and searched the collar for a tag or something similar that could identify the brand but there was nothing.

"That's a wicked outfit, whose is it?" Dusk asked. Luna turned and saw Dusk jump out of bed and walk over to the clothes.

Luna shrugged. "I think they're Thorn's but I don't recognize them."

Dusk knelt down and started rummaging through the clothes. "I love these boots, just need them to be green," she said holding up one of the boots. "I gotta ask her where she got these."

Dusk went to the bathroom door and knocked. "I'm loving your new outfit. I wanna know where you got these boots."

Thorn didn't reply.

"Hey, Thorn did you hear me?" Dusk asked as she knocked a bit louder than before.

 _Something's wrong._ Luna quickly made her way to the door and knocked.

"You alright in there?" Luna asked as she knocked on the door. She was begging for a response. Praying even. Anything to let her know that Thorn was okay.

But there was nothing.

"Thorn open the door!" Luna pleaded as she tried turning the doorknob but it was locked.

There was still no response. Luna continued to frantically turn the doorknob in a vain attempt to open it and her desperate pleas were only met with the patter of water hitting the bathtub.

Luna felt a sudden tug on her shoulder as Dusk pulled her out away from the door.

"Alright Thorn, we're coming in whether you like it or not!" Dusk shouted. She raised her leg and gave the door a strong kick. The cheap, wooden door cracked and buckled around the hinges from the force of the kick. Dusk kicked again, this time closer to the knob.

Crack!

The two girls were hit with a cloud of steam as the door swung open and they entered the room. Luna ran to the bathtub and her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw Thorn. The Wiccan was passed out in the bathtub, her arm drooped over the side of the tub and her bat necklace on the floor.

"Oh jeez Thorn!" Luna shrieked. Her heart was racing as she quickly shut the water off. Luna propped Thorn's head up and Thorn's eyes half-opened.

"Hey Nightshade, you're back," Thorn mumbled. She reached out and started petting Luna's hair. "Your fur is sooo soft!"

Luna sighed. At least Thorn was alive, though clearly under the influence of something if she mistook Luna for her old cat.

Luna pulled Thorn's arm away and that's when she noticed the symbol burnt onto Thorn's shoulder. Luna shivered. It was the same one the cult wore on their uniforms. She looked back at Thorn, who was giggling as she tried to pet Luna's hair again.

"What did you do to yourself, Sally?" Luna asked. She anxiously looked at Thorn for a response.

"I didn't know you could talk Nightshade," Thorn said as a giant smile spread across her face. "I know cats and dogs don't like each other, but there's a talking dog you should meet. His name's Scooby. He eats a lot."

Luna grabbed Thorn's arms and pulled her up, much to the Wiccan's delight as she burst into a fit of laughter.

"Let's get you out of the bathtub," Luna said, doing her best to remain calm.

Thorn took one step out of the bathtub and nearly fell down; Luna barely caught her while Dusk quickly wrapped a towel around Thorn. Thorn groaned and tried pulling the towel off of her.

"I don't want any," Thorn said.

"Leave it," Luna declared.

Thorn stopped. She looked toward the ceiling and recoiled in fear. "Tell Gus to stop crawling on the ceiling, he's freaking me out."

Luna looked at the spot where Thorn was starring and of course Gus wasn't there.

"She's tripping badly," Dusk snickered.

Luna glared at Dusk. "This isn't funny."

"I know, but I can't stop picturing Gus crawling on the ceiling like Spider-Man or something," she replied.

Luna sighed. The two girls walked Thorn to the odd chair that was in the bathroom and sat her down.

"Why'd we stop?" Thorn asked. "Oh, I'll order a number seven. What do you want, Nightshade?"

Luna shook her head. "What did you take?"

Thorn just giggled and reached into the air as she tried to grab something that wasn't there. She tried getting up but Luna quickly sat her back down.

"Answer the question. What did you take?" Luna repeated.

"You let it get away," Thorn said, frowning. "I'm not talking to you anymore." She crossed her arms and turned away from Luna.

Luna sighed. Getting answers from Thorn in her current state was impossible and there was no way to determine how long her trip would last without knowing what drug she was on. And bar the occasional drink, Thorn didn't use any drugs, so Luna was left worrying if Thorn took some herbal mix.

"I think I found what Thorn took," Dusk said. Luna turned and saw Dusk holding a bag containing several seeds. They were in an unlabeled bag, which was unusual since Thorn labeled all her herbs.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "What are those?"

Dusk shrugged and took a couple of seeds out of the bag. She walked over to Thorn and showed them to her.

"How many did you take?" Dusk asked.

Thorn looked at the seeds and smiled. "Five."

"And what are they?" Dusk asked.

"Woodrose," Thorn giggled.

Dusk closed her hand and grabbed the remaining seeds from the counter. She then walked over to the toilet, dropped the seeds into it, and then flushed them.

"So what's Woodrose?" Luna asked.

"It's Hawaiian Baby Woodrose," Dusk began. "It's a plant whose seeds, when ingested, cause euphoria and hallucinations; it's like an organic LSD."

 _Oh fuck._ If what Dusk said was true, then something was really troubling Thorn. Luna's attention was drawn back to the symbol cut onto Thorn's shoulder. _She's still struggling with that night._ Luna didn't blame her. What they faced was traumatizing; hell, she had several nightmares over the past few nights herself. But Luna could barely imagine how difficult it was for Thorn, especially after she killed Cyrus. Luna had hoped getting back into their tour would help but clearly it wasn't if Thorn was taking drugs and self-harming; She needed help.

"How long does the trip last?" Luna asked as she tried to control her breathing.

"Up to eight hours," Dusk said.

"Great," Luna mumbled to herself. "So what do we do?"

Dusk shrugged. "We just have to wait it out." She turned to Thorn, who was laughing at some hallucination. "We should probably dry her off, get her dressed, and then get her to bed."

Luna nodded. "Do we know if Gus has anything scheduled for us today?"

Dusk nodded. "He said there was something, but he didn't say when. Hopefully, it'll be after she comes out of her trip."

The two girls helped Thorn up and led her out of the bathroom. They walked her to her bed, where they sat her down. Thorn continued to giggle as she stared in awe at something nonexistent.

"Let's get her some clothes," Luna sighed. "Check the dresser over there."

Dusk nodded and ran over to the other side of the bed. Luna searched the dresser and grabbed the first things she saw, which were a red crop top and black jeans. She placed them on the bed next to the black bra and panties Dusk had found.

Luna sighed as she glanced at Thorn. "Let's get you dressed."

* * *

Thorn groaned. Her head was pounding and the cramping in her legs was terrible. She turned over and buried her face in her pillow in a vain attempt to get comfortable. The visions and euphoria had stopped maybe half an hour after Luna and Dusk dressed her. Surprisingly, the nausea was bearable—she didn't vomit once during her trip— and even now she didn't feel the need to puke. But the side effects were worth it as the seeds did their job. While her trip paled in comparison to the surreal sense she felt when she encountered the blue-gray entity, it took away the pain and gave her a sense of euphoria. For a few hours anyway.

But as she writhed in bed, she felt guilty. She put her friends through needless panic because she couldn't cope with what the Fallen did to her. She should've gone to Dusk and Luna right after the Broken freed her and told them what happened. Instead, she took the quick and temporary route, and then they had to dress her like she was a toddler.

"Are you feeling better?" Luna asked.

"Ugh, a bit," Thorn said into her pillow.

"At least you're sober now," Dusk said.

Thorn groaned. "Don't remind me."

"Do you remember what time you took the seeds?" Luna asked.

"I don't know," Thorn muttered. "Maybe around midnight but I couldn't tell."

"What do you mean you couldn't tell?" Luna questioned, the agitation in her voice was clear.

Thorn swallowed. She had to tell them what happened. Despite how uncomfortable it physically made her, Thorn rolled over and sat up. The room spun around and she felt dizzy. She blinked a few times before the dizziness faded.

Thorn sighed. "The Fallen was possessing me."

Wide-eyed and mouth agape, Dusk and Luna each took a step backward and gasped.

"What!?" Luna gasped.

"A small piece of the crystal landed on me when I destroyed it and that's how the Fallen was able to possess me," Thorn explained, and she started to tremble. "I was trapped in a dark void and the Fallen told me he was going to impersonate me and use the Hex Girls to manipulate everyone into freeing him."

Dusk and Luna were too stunned to speak.

Thorn felt a tear roll down her cheek as she continued. "He would've succeeded. He had access to all my memories, thoughts, and skills. The Fallen was a better me than me." Thorn lowered her head and sniffled. "Then he went to erase me and I'd be gone forever." She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "Nobody would've known I was gone."

Thorn covered her face and cried. She wanted to get high again, as just speaking about what happened brought back the shame and disgust. She heard Dusk and Luna sit next to her; she felt their hands on her shoulder and one of them was rubbing her back.

"It's okay, none of that happened; you're still here," Dusk said.

"We beat him," Luna said. "The Fallen is gone."

Thorn's sobs lightened and she looked at them.

"No, he's still out there," Thorn said. She pulled her sleeve up and pointed at the mark on her shoulder. "He did this so someone could find me."

Luna sighed. "The Fallen isn't here and he's not possessing you." Luna paused for a few seconds like she was trying to figure out how to say what was on her mind. Thorn lowered her head. She knew what was next was going to be bad. "I know these past few days have been tough, but what you're doing to yourself isn't right. You need help and we'll be there for you no matter what."

Thorn froze. _She_ …It was like getting stabbed in the back. _She doesn't_ …Despite her leg cramps, Thorn pulled away from Dusk and Luna and got out of bed. She couldn't face them.

"You don't believe me," Thorn stammered, her eyes teary.

"I believe you believe that the Fallen possessed you and made you do terrible things but…" Luna paused.

"You were tripping on Woodrose," Dusk added.

 _Dusk too._ Thorn clenched her fists and closed her eyes as if she was expecting to wake up from a dream and they'd believe her. Her best friends in the entire world, who went through hell and back with her, didn't believe her.

She finally turned around and faced them. "I can't believe you both don't believe me! I took those seeds to cope with what the Fallen did to me!" Grunting from the discomfort, Thorn limped over to the outfit on the floor. She picked up the dress and held it to them. "The Fallen fucking made these!" She rolled the dress into a ball and threw it at Dusk and Luna; it landed at their feet.

The two girls looked down at the dress. Neither of them spoke. Thorn turned and made her way into the bathroom.

"Thorn wait!" she heard Luna call out but Thorn ignored her. She found the crumpled paper with "Love's Cure!" written on it. Picking it up, she went back out and tossed the paper at Luna.

"The Fallen wrote a goddamned song!" Thorn shouted.

Luna unfolded the paper and she and Dusk read it. After a few minutes, they both looked back at her.

"Thorn...I'm sorry," Luna stammered.

"Yeah, sorry for not trusting you," Dusk said.

Thorn sighed. "I should've come to you both as soon as I was freed. I should've never taken those seeds, but I was hurting so much..." She began to whimper. Luna put aside the paper and she and Dusk brought Thorn back to the bed.

"I wish you came to us first, but I understand," Luna said as she and Dusk hugged Thorn. 

They remained in silence for a few minutes until Thorn calmed down enough to continue their conversation.

"Okay, if the Fallen did this, why did he leave you?" Luna asked, breaking the silence

"I prayed and I think the Broken saved me," Thorn said, wiping her eyes.

"The Broken?" Luna asked.

"You mean that creepy tentacle thing from the museum?" Dusk added.

Thorn nodded. "Well, I think it was him; the thing I saw had the same color scheme." She looked up at the ceiling, half-expecting the Broken to be there. Of course, it wasn't. She looked back at her friends. "It was the same thing that saved us from the rubble."

Both Dusk and Luna looked at each other in shock.

"Wait, we were saved by a god?" Dusk said, scratching her head. "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

Thorn sighed. "I didn't know what was happening at the time and I just accepted it as a miracle. Since neither of you remembered it, I left it at that."

Luna took a long breath and slowly shook her head. "Well, this isn't how I expected this conversion to go." The redhead stood up and sighed.

"So, um, why did the Broken save us?" Dusk asked.

"I don't know," Thorn said with a shrug. "When he appeared to me last night, he told me to go to the Regal Hotel."

"Where's that?" Dusk asked.

Thorn shrugged. She had no idea where it was nor how to get there. 

"Apparently it's nearby, about ten blocks from here," Luna said looking at her phone.

Thorn was surprised. _Why does the Broken want me to go there?_ Clearly, something—or perhaps someone—was there and if an actual deity mentioned it, it was probably significant.

Luna kept scrolling and then abruptly stopped.

"You found something?" Thorn asked, her excitement rising.

"Yeah, according to legend, a cult used to gather at the hotel and perform rituals. Supposedly a lot of rich and powerful people stayed there and were involved in these rituals," Luna explained.

The mention of a cult sent a shiver down Thorn's spine. There was no doubt in her mind that the hotel had to be related to the cult that worshiped the Fallen. And after all, the Fallen did say he had thousands of followers out there, so perhaps the Broken wanted her to meet a follower there.

"Is there anything else?" Thorn asked.

"Legend also says that there is a treasure hidden there," Luna added.

"Oh cool," Dusk said. "Maybe we need to find that treasure."

 _Could be._ Thorn wondered what the treasure could be. A magical relic or something similar could be important enough for the Broken to tell them to get. Maybe whatever item was there would keep them safe from the Fallen.

"The place is also said to be haunted," Luna read. "There's been lots of paranormal investigations over the years.."

Thorn frowned when Luna mentioned the hotel being haunted. She'd already encountered two genuine ghosts, Sarah Ravencroft and Alexander Levre, and both had tried to kill her and her friends. _Please just be a rumor._

"Paranormal activity has spiked within the last ten months after a fire broke out on the second floor, destroying most of the historic building," Luna continued. "Some claim that the ghosts are disturbed by the ongoing construction."

There was silence for several minutes as each girl processed this information. _Do I have to meet a ghost? What's the treasure? Do I need to find it? Ugh! What does this all mean!?_ So many thoughts ran through her mind yet she had answers to none of them. It was frustrating, especially since the Broken was rather cryptic. But, as she recalled from the occult museum, the Broken worked from the shadows, only intervening when it was absolutely necessary. In all likelihood, there were things going on behind the curtains that she couldn't understand.

"So what do we do?" Thorn asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, if a god said we need to go somewhere, then I guess we should go," Dusk said.

Thorn flinched. While she wanted answers, the last time she went to find them didn't go the way she wanted and they almost died. Multiple times. All of them painfully.

"Absolutely not," Luna said standing up. "We're not repeating last time."

Thorn sighed. She was glad Luna shared her thoughts.

"But last time, we didn't have a god on our side," Dusk added.

"What do you mean?" Thorn asked. "The Broken isn't on our side."

"He saved Luna and me before, and you twice," Dusk responded. "Maybe he's watching over us. Like protecting us from harm. Or at least you. Plus, he wants us to go to this hotel, I'd like to imagine that he won't let us get hurt."

Thorn didn't know how to respond. It was true that in the Broken's presence she felt safe and comfortable, so it wasn't too far of a stretch to think the entity would protect them. But then again, the Broken had only intervened when the Fallen was the threat, and even then, it was only after Thorn prayed; he didn't prevent Alexander Levre, Matella, Cyrus, or the other cultists from nearly killing them. There was no guarantee that they would be protected from a ghost or cultist if they encountered such.

"That's ridiculous," Luna stated standing up. "We're not going."

"It's possible," Thorn muttered.

"No, we are not going," Luna affirmed.

"Okay, what if we don't go and the Broken gets pissed off," Dusk said. "I mean how many myths have a god getting angry at people and then punishing them. Sorry, I don't want to piss off the only thing helping us."

"I never considered that," Thorn said flinching. She didn't think the Broken would do anything bad to them, but she didn't know for certain. He was a Dark One and sided with the Fallen in the ancient war, not to mention the ominous warning he gave her, though she was unsure if the warning meant he'd do something to them or just something bad would happen in general if they didn't go. Thorn sighed. " But the Broken said an unfortunate fate would befall us if we didn't find whatever's hidden at the hotel."

"Fuck," Luna grumbled as she walked toward the nightstand.

Thorn shared Luna's frustration. She didn't want to go either, but she knew they didn't have much of a choice. Go and face uncertain dangers or stay and guarantee themselves a bad fate.

"We have to go," Thorn sighed.

"You're in no condition to go anywhere," Luna stated.

"I'll be fine, I just need to eat something and take some willow for my headache," Thorn said. Indeed, the few side effects she had from the seeds were wearing off and would probably be gone within the next hour or so, which was odd given how long they should last, but she wasn't complaining. "We have to go Luna."

Luna scowled. "This is a bad idea."

"Hey, it's quarter to nine; if we order breakfast now and leave around ten, I'll get some more time to recover," Thorn said.

"Yeah, we can use that time to prepare for any dangers," Dusk added as she ran over to one of her bags on the floor and started rummaging through it.

"She's right," Thorn said. "We have a much better idea of what we're up against so we can prepare for it." She smiled at Luna. "Whaddya say?"

"Ugh, fine, not like we have a choice," Luna conceded. "I just hope you're right about this."

Thorn nodded and thanked Luna, though inside, she hoped she was making the right decision.


	3. Some Good News

Thorn was feeling much better after breakfast and the side effects were all but gone by the time they started preparing for the trip. It was very unusual, given the unpleasant side effects could last even after the hallucinations ended. Whatever the reason, not dealing with any more physical pain was great and she could focus on preparing for their trip to the Regal Hotel. Sitting in the chair in the bathroom, Thorn carefully went through her herbs, packing various ointments, dried leaves, and extracts that could be used to treat or clean injuries. She even grabbed the jar of Manuka honey she received several months ago as part of a gift but never had a chance to use it. Of course, she packed her purse with more standard medical supplies including bandages, gauze, and alcohol pads. They'd received too many injuries last time, Dusk especially as she took a bullet to her waist. While none of their wounds were fatal, including Dusk's bullet wound as it only grazed her, Thorn wasn't taking any chances this time around.

Satisfied that she had everything she needed, Thorn turned her attention to the jewelry box on the counter and opened it. Luna suggested they bring silver as the metal was capable of neutralizing magic to an extent. Thorn sighed as she looked at the silver ring in the box. Perhaps this time would be different. With a trembling hand, she reached for the ring.

"Ahhh!" she cried as she touched the ring, the instant burn causing her to pull her arm back and inadvertently fling the ring across the counter. She clutched her hand and assessed the damage; her fingers were bright red and she easily had a first-degree burn. Yet the pain subsided and the redness faded within a few seconds, leaving her hand unscarred.

 _What were you thinking? You're a witch, you can't touch silver._ Thorn sighed. She wanted to deny the truth one last time and grab the ring, prove to herself that she wasn't a witch. Of course, Thorn couldn't defeat reality. She was, no matter how she felt about it, a witch.

"You alright in there?" Dusk asked, poking her head in the doorway.

Thorn closed the jewelry box and pushed it aside. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I was just packing some first aid supplies."

"Okay," Dusk said. "When you're ready, I got something for you."

Curious, Thorn quickly tidied up the counter before getting up from the chair. She followed Dusk into the main room where she saw her and Luna standing by the door. She noticed that Luna was wearing a silver moon pendant and Dusk had a silver ring in the shape of a bat.

"You ready?" Dusk asked.

"Yeah, I'm all set," Thorn said.

Dusk reached into her purse and to Thorn's surprise, she pulled out a small, sheathed knife, very similar to the hidden one Dusk kept on her ankle. Dusk handed the knife to Thorn.

"I…I can't take that," Thorn stammered. "Isn't that yours? How will you defend yourself?"

"I still have mine," Dusk said, tapping the side of her boot. "Plus, I got this up the other night." Dusk reached into an inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out a large dagger with a blade that was easily six inches. Where she got that, Thorn didn't know nor did she want to know but she didn't get a chance to ask as Dusk quickly returned it to her jacket.

Thorn shook her head. "Give it to Luna."

"I'm good," Luna said and she pulled a can of mace from her purse. "Picked up a can the day after we escaped the cultists."

 _Huh, not a bad idea._ Thorn made a mental note to do the same when this was over before her attention was brought back to Dusk.

"Take it, you need it to defend yourself," Dusk said, gesturing for her to take the knife. "Unless you're actually going to use your magic."

Thorn grunted and looked away from Dusk. Dusk had a point, but Thorn didn't care. Her magic was dangerous and she could easily kill her friends if they got in the way or she wasn't careful.

Grunting, Thorn snatched the knife and put it in her purse. "I'm not using magic," she stated.

Dusk shook her head. "This cult is full of witches While accidentally hurting her friends was a major concern for her, it wasn't her only reason for not using magic. Part of her still believed she could separate herself from the other mages and prove the Fallen wrong by not killing or hurting others, even though she failed when she killed Cyrus and almost killed Dusk. and warlocks who have no problems using their magic to kill us. You can fight back."

Thorn crossed her arms. "I'm not using magic."

"You have these wicked awesome powers that you can protect us from danger with," Dusk said, raising her voice.

"I'm not using magic," Thorn said, raising her voice to match Dusk's.

Dusk groaned. "Why not?"

"Because I said so," Thorn asserted.

"That's bullshit," Dusk muttered as she put her hands on her hips.

"That's enough, we haven't even left the room and you two are already arguing," Luna said stepping between the two girls. "We've taken precautions and we don't even know if there will be any cultists there, so as long as we stay calm and focused, we should be fine." She looked at both of them. "Can we please stop arguing?"

Thorn and Dusk shot each other a glance and sighed. Luna was right, fighting and arguing with each other wouldn't help. Thorn just hoped this would be the last time this subject was mentioned.

"Okay," Thorn said.

Dusk stared at the ground for a second before glancing at Thorn. "Fine." She turned around and exited the room.

"Let's go," Luna said to Thorn.

Thorn didn't say anything and just walked past her, grabbing her black jacket from the coat rack as she entered the hallway herself.

* * *

Ding! The elevator door opened and the girls entered the lobby. There were a handful of people standing around the entrance carrying briefcases and talking on their phones, likely waiting for their rides to pick them up or waiting to get checked in. Looking out the large windowed walls, Thorn frowned upon seeing the dull grey sky and the steady rain drenching everything outside. Thorn wanted to walk, as it would've been a good way to clear her head and mentally prepare for what was ahead of them. So much for that...

"Ah, there are my groovy gothic chicklets!...and Dusk."

The familiar, upbeat voice was a pleasant surprise for a day that started out so badly.

"Hey Gus," Thorn said with a smile as she, Dusk, and Luna turned around and greeted their manager.

Gus Boggs was smiling and he spun around in dance as he reached the Hex Girls before giving a slight bow as he concluded his delightful approach. His purple jacket, pink pants, and rose-tinted glasses seemed to brighten up the room and Thorn caught his infectious smile and upbeat attitude.

"You're in a good mood," Luna said. "What's going on?"

"Oh, I have some wonderful news to brighten this dreary day," Gus said clasping his hands together.

"What? Dusk can't use the band credit card anymore?" Luna teased; Dusk stuck her tongue out in retaliation.

"Indeed, and thankfully that mess has been dealt with but that's not it," Gus quickly rattled off before resuming his jovial composure. "I just confirmed an interview for you three with Chris Maxwell this afternoon!"

Thorn's eyes lit up with excitement. "Wait, you mean the famous talk show hostess Chris Maxwell?"

"The one and only," Gus replied.

"That's wicked awesome!" Dusk cheered.

Chris Maxwell was the hostess for the immensely popular talk show _Chris_ that aired on the channel Americana. Anyone in the entertainment industry worth something made an appearance on the show: actors, writers, musicians, sports stars; if one wanted to become a household name, then one went on _Chris_. Thorn even recalled a segment in which Daphne Blake appeared and promoted her old TV show and another where Mystery Incorporated appeared in their entirety. And after her horrible experience last night, this spectacular news was something she needed.

"That's amazing," Thorn said. "How'd you manage to get us on?"

"Yeah I'm curious," Luna said. "Isn't there a notoriously long waiting list to get on and even then, most people don't end up making it?"

Gus chuckled to himself as he adjusted his glasses. "Oh it certainly wasn't easy and I spent many a night emailing her producers, but in the end, Chris herself called and asked for you three to be guests on the show this evening!"

"Wait, Chris asked us to come on the show?" Thorn gasped.

"She did, quite enthusiastically I might add," Gus replied.

The girls gave each other an excited glance before turning back to Gus.

"So what time does the show start?" Luna eagerly asked.

"Six," Gus said. "Though we need to be there an hour before for all the preparations, so I'd like to depart around four-thirty." Gus paused and reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and removed several sheets of paper.

"That reminds me, the producers sent me the questions Chris will ask you," Gus said, handing each Hex Girl a copy of the questions. "Please read them over and prepare your responses."

Thorn took her copy and glanced through the questions, her smile waning. Aside from a couple of questions about their interactions with Mystery Incorporated, the bulk of the interview was about their current tour. _Ugh, it's just marketing._ While she understood the importance of promoting themselves and the tour, Thorn hoped they'd get to talk about themselves, both as individuals and a band. Instead, their appearance on one of America's favorite talk shows was nothing more than a marketing ploy for the tour.

"Um, yeah, I'll take a look at it later," Thorn said, folding the paper and putting it in her purse as Dusk and Luna put their copies away. "But thanks for setting this up."

"Yeah, you're great," Dusk added.

"Oh darlings, I'm the best in the business," Gus said with a grin.

Thorn nodded and turned, ready to depart the hotel with Dusk and Luna. Thorn barely reached the door when she heard Gus call out to them.

"Do pray tell where you three are going?"

Thorn paused. She wasn't about to tell Gus that they were going to find a cult treasure because a god told them to.

"Oh, we were going to do a little sightseeing and grab lunch somewhere," Thorn said.

Gus frowned and his posture slouched as the excitement and joy drained from his face. "Do my ears deceive me?" he said, raising his hand to his ear. "You three are going out?"

"Yeah, just for a few hours," Thorn replied.

Gus sighed. He adjusted his jacket and straightened his scarf. He gave each girl a quick glance before clearing his throat.

Thorn gritted her teeth. _Oh shit, we're in trouble_.

"No, that's not happening, not today," Gus said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"Why not!?" Thorn said, raising her voice.

"Because I'm not letting you three ruin this much-needed interview by running off into the unknown again," Gus replied.

"We're just going sightseeing," Dusk said. "What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that!?" Gus exclaimed as his attention turned to Dusk, though he was addressing all of them. Thorn flinched, discomforted by his uncharacteristic outburst as Gus had never once in his entire time as their manager raised his voice at them. "You told me the other night in Bolfied that you were just going to a bar after the concert. Then the three of you return at five in the morning in some random car looking like shit!" Dusk went to say something but Gus quickly cut her off "For Chrissakes Dusk, you were covered in blood! I nearly fainted upon seeing you!"

Thorn bit her lip and looked away. She noticed a couple of people in the lobby staring at them as Gus wasn't hiding his anger. She glared at them; the nosey individuals quickly turned away as Gus continued his rant.

"And when I ask what happened, the three of you hide in the tour bus and refuse to answer me! I nearly canceled the following day's show because I didn't know if I needed to take you all to the hospital. I probably should've, since that was your worst performance to date, but didn't because you three insisted you were alright, and doing so would've put the entire tour in jeopardy of failing. And if the tour fails, well, the record label will flush you three down the drain quicker than they did poor Fantzee Pantz," Gus continued, his face bright red. "So no, unless you girls tell me what happened the other night and where you're actually going, you will all stay here and prepare your responses for the interview!"

Thorn sighed. Gus had every right to be angry at them and under different circumstances, she'd agree with him. She hated lying to him considering everything he's done for their careers, as without him, they'd still be in Oakhaven, perhaps doing weekend gigs at clubs in Boston if they were lucky. As much as it pained her, she couldn't tell him the truth. That there were things greater than humanity and almost all of it was evil. That magic was real and dangerous. That they were following the vague instructions of an actual god. That she was a witch and a threat to everyone around her. It was too much. It was far safer to let him live in ignorant bliss.

"We'll be back well before four," Thorn said. "And there won't be any drinking or partying, so you don't have to worry about us getting hurt or ruining our PR."

"And we're only going a few blocks away," Luna added.

Gus shook his head. "I don't care if you're going to the store across the street; you three are not leaving this hotel."

"Ugh, this sucks," Dusk groaned as she kicked the ground.

"Until you three start acting like adults, you're not going anywhere," Gus dictated.

Thorn grunted as she turned away from Gus. He was absolutely right, he needed the truth. Well, a truth, something he'd believe. She stood there for a solid minute, constructing a web of lies. _I'm so sorry Gus, you deserve better._ With a heavy sigh, she turned to her manager and already regretted what she was about to do.

"I'm sorry about the other night," Thorn said. "You deserve the truth."

Dusk and Luna looked at her in shock. She dismissed them for the moment and focused on Gus.

"Well," Gus said, awaiting Thorn's response.

"We really were at the bar in town," she began. She felt sick like she was ingesting a drop of poison with each lie. "While there, we met some people from the concert and they invited us to a party an hour away in Albany. We got a ride there and things were great. Evidently, I got a bit too drunk and somehow broke this giant mirror the host owned. Dusk helped clean up but she accidentally cut herself on the broken glass. At that point, Luna wanted to get out and some guy let us borrow his car so we could leave."

 _You don't give a shit about the people you use._ The Fallen's words from their first encounter with the entity in the temple echoed in her mind. In an attempt to get Thorn to submit to it, the Fallen called her out on her manipulative behavior; it even mentioned her lying to Gus so she could get away with all sorts of things. _And now you're doing it again._ She felt like Matella, the witch who nearly tricked her into sacrificing herself in a magic ceremony that would free the Fallen, and Thorn felt disgusted with herself. _Stop it! This is nothing like what Matella did to you. You're lying to Gus to protect him from the horrors that are out there; this is for his own good._

Thorn kept a straight face and looked at Gus. She needed him to believe her.

"Is this true?" Gus asked, turning to Dusk and Luna.

Thorn nervously glanced at them, hoping that they would continue the lie.

"Yeah, stupid piece of glass cut my hand," Dusk said with a sigh. "Though it was kinda funny seeing Thorn wasted and knocking the mirror over."

Luna nodded. "I'm honestly surprised that guy let us leave with his car."

"I'm not," Dusk said as she looked at Thorn with a mischievous grin. Thorn rolled her eyes in anticipation of Dusk's teasing. "Considering she was all over him…"

"Okay I get it," Gus said, cutting her off. "Why didn't you three tell me about this? This could be horrendous for your images, not to mention the legal mess you made."

"We were drunk, scared, and embarrassed," Thorn quickly said. "Fortunately no one recognized us and we made it back without incident."

While Dusk was certainly reveling in the lie, Thorn wanted it to end. The more she lied, the worse she felt. She just wanted Gus to accept the story and let them leave so they could deal with whatever was at the Regal Hotel.

"This is even more of a reason to not let you three leave," Gus sighed. "Not to mention Dusk's fiasco this morning with the credit card."

"Look, we're only going to do some sightseeing and get lunch; no drinking, no partying, nothing that would cause a PR disaster," Thorn said trying to salvage her situation.

"What could possibly want to see in the rain?" Gus asked, still very much against the idea of letting them leave the hotel.

"There's an um, art museum that has, um, paintings from a Wiccan artist I like," Thorn quickly answered.

Gus sighed and looked away from them. Thorn could tell he was torn about letting them go. Considering her lie wasn't much better than the truth, Thorn wasn't surprised that Gus was struggling to make up his mind.

"What if we checked in with you every hour we're out?" Luna suggested.

"Hmm, I would feel more comfortable with that," Gus said. "But still…"

"We can text you pictures if you want," Dusk added.

"And we'll be back by three, three-thirty tops," Thorn concluded. She glanced at the clock over the front desk of the lobby. It was 11:00 AM. She had no idea how long it would actually take to accomplish whatever the Broken wanted them to do but hopefully, five hours would cover it.

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but fine, you all can go out," Gus said with a frown.

Thorn sighed with relief as their manager gave them permission to leave. Sure, it wasn't how she wanted to get it, but it worked.

"Now I expect a phone call every hour from you and you all must be back no later than three," Gus mandated. "And please do look at those questions, we really need this interview to go well."

"Will do," Thorn said with a smile. "Thanks for letting us do this."

Gus nodded and with that, he turned and headed over to the elevator. After pressing the button, he faced the girls one last time.

"Don't make me regret this," he said as the elevator door opened and he stepped inside.

"We won't," Thorn replied as the doors closed behind him. And with that, the Hex Girls were on their own.

"Damn Thorn, you really pulled the wool over his eyes," Dusk said. "I was certain he was going to send us back to our rooms."

Thorn grunted and elbowed Dusk. "Shut up, I feel really bad about lying to him, please don't make it worse."

Dusk just rubbed her side and said nothing, taking the hint that Thorn wanted the topic dropped.

"Hey, we can do something for him when we get back," Luna suggested.

Thorn smiled. "That's a good idea." Even if it was buying him a new scarf or helping him with his managerial tasks, they needed to do something to show their appreciation for him and apologize for causing so many problems. The exact details would have to wait as they had a divine task to complete.

"So what's the plan now?" Dusk asked.

Thorn looked outside. Several cars drove by in the rain, including numerous taxis. While she preferred a nice walk to help clear her thoughts, the weather and their time restraints ruined that, so driving was the only option.

"We get a cab and go to the Regal Hotel," Thorn replied. "And then we go from there."

Dusk and Luna nodded and the three Hex Girls headed toward the door. As they left the building, Thorn set a timer on her phone. They had just under five hours to complete their task, whatever that was. And in the back of her mind, Thorn knew that they were likely heading toward certain danger.


	4. Welcome to the Regal Hotel

11:15 AM

"This is as far as I can go," the cab driver said as the cab pulled over and came to a halt.

"Thanks," Thorn said as she looked out the window. The street the hotel was on was closed due to the construction, so they had to get dropped off a block away.

"Your total fare is six-thirty," the cab driver said.

Thorn nodded as she paid the driver and then took her receipt. With the payment taken care of, Thorn opened the door and the three girls exited the vehicle.

"I still don't get why you girls would want to go to that creepy place," the driver said as he rolled down the passenger window.

"We're just paranormal enthusiasts," Thorn replied, though calling herself an enthusiast at this point in her life was certainly a stretch.

The cab driver chuckled to himself. "Well, you came to the right place if you want ghosts. Stay safe." He rolled the window up and soon merged back into the busy city streets.

"Hey Thorn, can you tell the Broken to make it stop raining?" Dusk asked as she pulled her jacket's hood over her head and shivered.

"I don't think it works that way," Thorn replied as she buttoned up her own rain jacket.

"Let's keep moving, the hotel isn't far," Luna said.

Thorn and Dusk nodded and the three of them headed down the wet sidewalk. Indeed, it wasn't a long walk at all and after a few minutes, they reached a long fence that was up to prevent people from wandering into the construction site.

"Here it is," Luna said. "So what's the plan?

Nestled between grey skyscrapers was a six-story building covered with scaffolding and surrounded by a couple of cranes. The exterior walls of the top three stories were gone, exposing the bare frames and interior to the elements bar a few areas where plastic tarps were used as makeshift walls. The bottom three stories were in far better condition; the faded red, brick exterior complemented by the white door and window trim stood out grey weather. But the most notable part of the hotel was the large stone crown flanked by two stone eagles above the hotel's front doors, which were wide open.

"Well I guess we'll sneak in," Thorn said, noticing the front door.

"How?" Luna said, raising an eyebrow.

Thorn looked around and sighed as people continuously passed the construction site. Simply climbing over the fence wasn't an option unless they wanted to get caught.

"Um," Thorn muttered while she looked for a break in the fence.

"We're done!"

The sudden shout caught Thorn off guard, and she turned in the direction of the commotion. A dozen construction workers stormed out of the building, most of them grunting and shouting as they hurried down the pavement. They walked around the building where there was a gate leading into an alleyway.

"No you can't quit!" a short, stocky man in business casual holding a clipboard shouted from the steps of the hotel, though Thorn's attention was brought to the man's bandaged hand that was stained red.

"Sorry, I ain't dealing with no ghost," one worker stated.

"There's no way in hell I'm going back in there with that spook around," another shouted.

The disgruntled workers filed out the gate and walked down the alleyway. Most of them headed off upon reaching the sidewalk while the man with the clipboard and injured hand returned inside, shaking his head. But two workers didn't follow the group of workers and waited at the front of the alleyway. The first and younger of the two had short black hair and wore a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants along with an orange vest. The second man had messy gray hair and wore a black sweatshirt and a pair of dirty jeans, while he held his vest. Both men looked around before lighting some cigarettes, paying no attention to the Hex Girls.

"Well, I guess there really is a ghost," Dusk said.

"At least they didn't mention any cultists," Luna added.

Thorn nodded. Not having to confront any cultists was a breath of fresh air. With fewer threats, Thorn wouldn't risk using magic and potentially killing someone. Of course, there was a potential ghost to deal with. _Restless spirit who haunts the night, no more shall you cause strife. It's time for you to face the light, for I rid you from the world of life_. The spell Matella used to destroy the ghost of the famous occultist Alexander Levre echoed in her mind. If she absolutely needed to, she knew how to deal with any hostile phantoms, though the notion of using magic unnerved her. Despite this anxiety, Thorn had a task to complete, and one way or the other, she needed to find whatever was hidden inside the Regal Hotel.

"We should ask the workers what they know about the ghost," Luna suggested. "So we don't go inside blind like last time."

Luna's words broke Thorn from her thoughts. "Yeah, good idea."

Thorn led Dusk and Luna over to where the two workers were smoking.

"Sorry for intruding, but we overheard you guys mentioning a ghost and we wanted to know if that was true?" Thorn asked.

The two workers glared at her, neither of them very happy about their smoke break being interrupted.

"What's it to you?" the gray-haired worker said before taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"Hotel's closed for repairs," the black-haired worker said, leaning against the wall of another building, blowing out a plume of smoke.

Thorn was taken back by their hostility, grimacing as the smoke drifted past her. She was about to call out their rude behavior when she noticed Dusk storming past her, no doubt about to release a verbal barrage of swears and slurs on the workers.

"We read online that the Regal Hotel was haunted and wanted to check it out while we were visiting the city," Luna said as she blocked Dusk with her arm, preventing her from making their situation even worse. "We're just curious about the building, that's all."

The gray-haired man lowered his cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke before sighing. "Sorry about that, our nerves are bad from that damned ghost."

"Yeah, working in a haunted hotel is nuts," the black-haired worker sighed. "Crazy shit happens in there and everyone's on edge."

With their behavior explained and the tension eased, Thorn resumed her questioning, though now worried about what the workers might have experienced. "What do you mean by 'crazy shit'?"

The black-haired worker took a short drag of his cigarette before exhaling a small plume of smoke, this time away from the Hex Girls. "Well, from what I've heard things started about a year ago when the top three stories burnt down and the repairs were made. Small things. Unexplained footsteps coming from closed-off areas. Items disappearing and reappearing days later. Doors slamming shut on their own. That kind of stuff."

"That doesn't sound too paranormal; surely there must've been some other explanation," Luna replied.

Thorn shot Luna a confused glance. They both knew ghosts existed and that the Regal Hotel had ties to the Fallen's cult, so the idea that the hotel was genuinely haunted wasn't far-fetched; if anything, it was quite probable that it was haunted. But Luna only acknowledged Thorn's confusion with a brief glance before the black-haired worker spoke.

"We honestly didn't think it was ghosts at first," the gray-haired workers began. "Until a couple of months ago when people started seeing the ghost itself."

"Yeah, scared a few workers away the first time it was seen," the black-haired worker added.

Thorn's eyes widened. People actually saw the ghost! In her mind, there was no doubt about it, the hotel was haunted.

"What did the ghost look like?" Luna asked.

The two workers briefly looked at each other before returning their attention back to the girls.

"Honestly, neither of us actually saw it," the gray-haired worker said. "But from what others have told us, the ghost is completely white, somewhat transparent, and had an almost misty texture to it."

"And the workers who saw couldn't tell if it was a guy or a girl," the black-haired worker said with a slight chuckle.

 _That's weird_ Thorn thought. _That's not at all what Sarah Ravencroft or Alexander Levre looked like._ Sarah and Alexander more or less looked how they were in life but with a more spectral appearance. This thing sounded like a generic ghost. Thorn found the description of the ghost suspicious, but since she was hearing second-hand accounts, it was hard to determine if what the workers were saying was accurate.

"So, what happened next?" Thorn asked.

"Damn ghost started scaring the shit out of folks, telling them to leave this place," the gray-haired worker said as he took another drag from his cigarette. "And several people did."

"The night guards would also complain about strange noises coming from the basement," the black-haired worker added. "One of our buddies on the night shift went down to investigate. Not long after, the other guard saw him running and screaming out the front doors, never to return. No one went down the basement after that."

"So what, the ghost doesn't want anyone in the basement?" Dusk asked as she crossed her arms, clearly not impressed by the alleged spirit.

Both workers shrugged and they took drags from their cigarettes, the glowing embers standing out in the rainy weather.

"Maybe," the black-haired worker said as he adjusted his orange safety helmet.

 _I wonder if the ghost is guarding the treasure_ Thorn thought. "What's in the basement?" she asked.

"Just a bunch of furniture that was salvaged from the top stories and generic hotel supplies," the gray-haired worker answered.

"Do you think the ghost could be connected with the treasure?" Thorn asked.

Thorn frowned as both workers burst into a fit of laughter and one worker nearly dropped his cigarette into a puddle.

"Lady, you really believe in the treasure?" the gray-haired worker laughed. "It's just an urban legend the locals tell themselves."

"Yeah, if there was a treasure, we'd have found it by now," the black-haired worker said, which caused the gray-haired man to cough momentarily and they both started calming down.

Thorn crossed her arms and did her best not to curse off the two workers. _The treasure must exist. Why else would the Broken send us here?_ Thorn took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as she regained her composure.

"Okay," she said. Clearly discussing the treasure was going to go nowhere with the workers, so she needed to change topics. "Did anything else happen with the ghost?"

"Yeah," the gray-haired worker said, his tone becoming rather serious as he took another long drag from what was left of his cigarette. "Earlier today the ghost scared a friend of ours so badly he nearly fell off the scaffolding."

"Oh," Thorn said. She felt bad that she got angry at them, even though their behavior somewhat deserved it. "I'm sorry to hear that. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine, just understandably shook," the black-haired worker said. "But that was the last straw, all the workers just quit as the foreman and management weren't doing anything about the ghost and our safety."

"Wait," Luna interjected. "The foreman knew that a ghost was scaring you guys and did nothing?"

"Yeah, that asshole knew about it for months and ignored everyone's complaints," the gray-haired worker said, raising his voice. "Honestly, I think he or the contractors are trying to scare us away so they can inflate labor costs by replacing us with undocumented laborers and still claim they're using skilled workers."

There was a rumble of thunder and a gust blew by, causing all of them to shiver. The rain came down stronger and Thorn instinctively covered her head with her hands. Even with rain gear, they'd get soaked if they stood outside for much longer.

The two workers discarded their cigarettes into a growing puddle, much to Thorn's displeasure.

"I'm not sticking around in this shit," the black-haired worker said, pulling up his hood, and the second worker nodded in agreement. "Time to go hit the gym."

"Take care," the gray-haired worker said to the Hex Girls, and a few moments later, they were running down the street to reach their destination before the rain got worse.

"I agree with them," Luna said as she started moving into the alleyway.

"Yeah, let's find a way inside," Thorn added.

She and Dusk caught up with Luna and dipped into the alleyway. They crept along the barricade, and Thorn noted the numerous "No Trespassing" and "Authorized Personnel Only" signs posted along the fence. They reached the gate and sighed as the workers had locked it on their way out.

"Thorn can you just magic the lock away or something, cause I'm freezing," Dusk said through chattering teeth.

Thorn looked at the lock on the gate and sighed. While she didn't know any spells that would unlock the gate, a bit of telekinesis would break the lock with ease. It'd be quick, just a little snap and they'd be nice and dry inside. All she had to do was focus on the lock and it would break.

But Thorn just shook her head and backed away from the gate.

"I can't," she muttered. "I just can't."

"You mean won't," Dusk said as she crossed her arms.

Thorn didn't respond. She simply turned away from her agitated friend. Dusk was right; there wasn't anything preventing her from using her magic. But the idea that she could lose control and hurt either Dusk or Luna was enough to terrify Thorn. She kept her oath she made to herself: no magic.

"For fuck's sake Thorn, just use your magic and break the lock; it'd take you two seconds to do so," Dusk grunted.

"No, I'm not doing it," Thorn said, raising her voice.

"Calm down, we can find another way in," Luna said she stepped between Thorn and Dusk.

 _Luna's right. We need to stay calm and focused._ Thorn nodded to her friends and then looked to Dusk. Dusk groaned and mumbled something, likely a slur, as she passed Thorn. Thorn sighed, doing her best to ignore whatever she said, and watched as Dusk went to the gate and crouched. She reached into her hair and removed what Thorn quickly realized was a bobby pin.

"If it's like the lock on your shed, I can get it open, though it'll take me a few minutes," Dusk said as she straightened out the bobby pin. "Though magic would make this a lot quicker."

"Wait what!?" Thorn gasped at the realization that Dusk had broken into her shed where she practiced her herbal remedies when at home.

Dusk chuckled and she continued to work on the lock. Thorn wasn't sure if she should yell at her friend or roll her eyes, as she couldn't tell if she was being serious or just messing with her for not using magic. Instead, she sighed and let Dusk work uninterrupted, though she made a mental note to question Dusk on the matter at another time.

"Just hurry up," Thorn finally said before turning to Luna. "So, do you think this ghost is real?"

Luna shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't seen the ghost ourselves, so I can't say for sure. But the worker's explanation makes sense. Fraud is a big issue in construction— the office complex my dad works at got defrauded while getting repairs— and criminals dressing up as monsters is apparently a lot more common than you'd think."

Thorn rubbed her chin. "You think the foreman is behind the ghost sightings?"

"I think he's worth checking out," Luna clarified as she glanced at the hotel entrance where the foreman had stood while begging his workers to return.

Thorn nodded. Luna's non-supernatural hypothesis for the ghost sightings was certainly plausible and investigating the foreman was a good course of action to take. Plus, if the ghost was just a crook in a costume trying to scam the hotel's owners, she wouldn't have to use magic as there wouldn't be a serious threat like mages or armed cultists. But even with this rational explanation, Thorn couldn't discredit the possibility that the ghost was genuine. With the hotel's alleged ties to a cult, the hidden treasure, and the fact that the Broken itself told them something was here for her to find, the ghost being real was a possibility.

"What if the ghost is real and it's guarding the treasure?" Thorn stressed. "The workers mentioned that the paranormal activity started not long after the fire. Maybe the fire and the construction put the treasure at risk and the ghost is protecting it by lashing out at people."

"I guess it's possible," Luna conceded. "Especially if the cult is involved." She paused and turned to the gate. "But we won't know until we get inside."

Thorn turned to Dusk. "Any luck?"

"Shhhh!" Dusk hushed at them. She brushed aside a few strands of wet hair from her face as she meticulously rotated the bobby pin. Between the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the ground, Thorn heard a soft click.

"Ha! I still got it!" Dusk cheered as the lock popped open. She pushed open the gate and returned the bobby pin to her hair.

"Great work," Thorn said with a smile on her face. "Now let's get out of the rain."

* * *

Instead of a lobby, the girls found themselves in front of a large make-shift wall made of construction tarps that blocked off the lobby and created a corridor that led to a doorway. Without any other options, they followed the corridor and entered a small hallway. The hallway matched the exterior color scheme—white walls and red carpeting—and was lined with a few doors while a few assorted pieces of construction equipment were haphazardly discarded on the floor or leaning against the walls.

Thorn noticed that one of the doors was ajar and she heard a muffled voice coming from the room. She quietly crept over to the door. Standing adjacent to the door, she waved Dusk and Luna over. She then peeked into the room.

"What do you see?" Luna whispered.

"It's the foreman," Thorn whispered back. "He's talking with someone on the phone."

The three girls remained quiet and they could overhear the foreman.

"Yes, the entire crew just walked out one me," the foreman groaned, rubbing his balding head. "Yes, it's because of the ghost and no I haven't seen it myself." He paused. "What?! How is it my fucking fault!? I've been calling Ray for several days now, but I can't get a hold of him." Another pause. "Look, if he's not going to do his job as head of security, then I'm going to call in some specialists to deal with this ghost. I got their website right here."

The foreman walked over to a desk with a laptop on it. Thorn could only see a few flashes of green and blue on the screen as the computer was too far away and the foreman was partially obscuring her view.

"Yeah, these guys are the best in the business; hundreds of cases solved," the foreman said as he read his computer screen. "No, it won't be expensive." He paused, this time for several seconds before scowling. "We'll go under if we lose this contract! I don't know what else I can do at this point other than calling these guys in and hope that they stop the ghost."

The foreman pulled up a chair and sat down, groaning and rubbing his head. "I'm going to forward you the link to their website so you can read about them. Plus, they mention in their blog that they're in the city, so they can get here ASAP."

The foreman said his farewells to the person on the phone and hung up. He started typing, presumably to email the person on the phone, though Thorn noticed how his injured hand kept wincing when he typed with it.

"This guy isn't the ghost," Luna said, shaking her head.

Thorn nodded. "I think you're right."

The foreman was, in Thorn's mind, another victim of the ghost. Not only did he sound frustrated with what was happening, but he was actively trying to stop the phantom from scaring away his workforce and was willing to call in specialists to properly deal with it. Thorn couldn't think of a motive for faking a ghost.

Despite this new information, it didn't mean there wasn't a ghost. If anything, she was more convinced that the ghost was real and was guarding the cult treasure. Thorn sighed. She wanted to be wrong and not have to use magic, but the more she learned about the ghost the more she worried about her magic. She turned to her friends.

"I think we're dealing with an actual ghost," she said with her head low.

"We still can't say that," Luna said. "We can only conclude that the foreman isn't behind the haunting."

Thorn smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just getting a bit nervous that this could be a real ghost."

"We're walking into a potentially haunted building, I think it's perfectly reasonable to be nervous," Luna replied. "Especially since we both know how dangerous ghosts are."

"Okay, we're all nervous," Dusk interrupted as she stepped forward. "But what do we do now?"

Both Thorn and Luna paused.

"I guess we can search the basement since that's where most of the sightings took place," Thorn answered.

"And if we run into the ghost?" Luna asked.

"Thorn has that spell that can kill ghosts," Dusk chimed in.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "How do you kill a ghost? They're already dead."

"Destroy, annihilate, damn. I don't know. Whatever Matella did at the cemetery. Thorn can do that," Dusk replied.

Thorn's face was reddening, and she felt flustered. "I'm not using magic, so can you stop mentioning it! We'll figure something out if it comes to it!"

"Hey who's there!"

Thorn covered her mouth and all three girls nearly jumped. _Shit, shit, shit! Look what you did!_ Thorn's heart was pounding as she turned and saw the foreman get out of his seat. He grabbed something from his desk and Thorn's eyes widened in fear as she realized it was a hammer.

"I said who's there! You're trespassing!" the foreman said brandishing the hammer, though Thorn noticed that he was shaking. _This guy is terrified. Best not to say anything._

Dusk and Luna evidently came to the same conclusion as neither of them spoke and they all scrambled away from the door trying to be as quiet as possible, though they were too focused on the foreman rather than their surroundings.

CRASH!

"Damnit," Dusk muttered. Thorn turned and saw that Dusk had knocked over a stack of two-by-fours that were leaning against the wall.

"Get out of here!" the foreman shouted, his face bright red, as he charged at the door.

"Run!" Dusk shouted.

Dusk ran past the door and farther down the hall. Grunting, Thorn sprinted after her, with Luna close behind. They barely rounded the corner when Thorn heard the door swing open and slam against the wall followed by the heavy steps of the foreman chasing after them.

They ended up in a shorter hallway with a set of red, wooden swing doors at the end. She didn't know what was beyond them, but she didn't care. Dusk crashed through them first and Thorn followed her into the unknown.

She stumbled into a large room, and nearly tripped over herself in her hasty entrance. She barely had time to notice the large counter and assorted furniture to recognize the room as the lobby before Luna emerged from behind her.

"Move! He's right behind us," Luna gasped.

Thorn didn't need to check as she heard the foreman running and shouting down the hall. She and Thorn took off toward Dusk, their wet shoes squeaking on the tiled floor.

Dusk was farther ahead of them and she disappeared as she rounded the counter. Thorn heard a door creak open.

"Where the hell is she going?" Thorn thought aloud.

"We're about to find out," Luna said as they rounded the counter themselves.

There was a metal door that Dusk had cracked open just enough to squeeze through and she was waving for Thorn and Luna to come through. But as Luna reached the door, Thorn found herself falling to the ground. She grunted as she hit the floor hard. Running on a tiled floor with wet shoes and poor treads wasn't a smart idea.

"Fuck," Thorn muttered under her breath as she grabbed her purse and she tried to scramble to her feet. But she heard the wooden doors open and she crawled behind the counter and motioned for her friends to close the door as the foreman entered the lobby.

"Where the hell did you go?" the foreman shouted. "I know you're in here."

Thorn braced herself against the counter and she tried to slow her breathing. _Please keep running. Please keep running._ The foreman stopped in front of her. _Fuck!_ Thorn pressed herself tighter against the counter. Her heart was racing. The foreman knocked the hammer against the counter. She closed her eyes. The foreman grunted. _Just go away already._

She had no idea if he saw her or what he would do if he found her but considering how he chased them with a hammer and how angry and frightened he was, it probably wasn't going to be good.

"What's this?" the foreman said.

She heard him take a few steps forward.

 _Oh no!_ Thorn opened her eyes and immediately went through her purse to see if anything was missing. Her eyes widened and her heart nearly skipped a beat as the knife Dusk had given her was gone. _I'm screwed._ Thorn braced herself against the counter, shaking at the thought of the foreman arming himself with the knife. She clenched her fists, and Thorn felt her magic. _Please no. Don't do anything._

"Ah!" the foreman shouted, followed by a loud thud against the wall. "Fuck this!" the foreman gasped, taking several steps backward. "I'm calling the cops and those paranormal investigators."

The foreman turned around and ran back the way he came.

Thorn leaned her head against the counter and let out a long sigh of relief. _You barely escaped a guy with a hammer. How the fuck are you supposed to deal with a ghost?_ From standing in the rain too long, which caused her to slip to shouting when they were eavesdropping, she had made several mistakes and they'd haven't even seen the ghost. Y _ou need to get your head in the game. A ghost could show up at any minute. Stay calm and focused._

She heard the door creak open.

"Hey Thorn, the coast's clear," Dusk said, poking her head out the metal door. Dusk's attention was quickly drawn to something else. "Woah, what happened here?

"What?" Thorn asked as she emerged from her hiding spot and looked around the counter. She gasped when she saw the knife impaled into the wall with a small piece of bandage stuck to the blade. Thorn shuddered and looked at her trembling hands. _I did that. I did that._ She glanced back at the knife, noticing how the knife was at the height of the foreman's head. _I could've killed him._ She glanced at her hands. They'd been in the Regal Hotel for a few minutes and already she lost control of her magic and almost killed someone. She shivered. _I can't do this._

"Hey, are you okay?" Dusk called.

"Um, yeah, I'm good," Thorn lied, shaking her head and pushing away the negative thoughts.

"You need to see what we found in here," Dusk said before disappearing into the room.

Thorn brushed her bangs, sighing as her trembling stopped. She got to her feet, walking over to the knife, and retrieved it, causing the piece of bandage to fall to the floor. She shuddered, returning the knife to a spot in her purse where it wouldn't fall out again, not wanting to look at it. She turned and joined her friends in the other room, hoping that whatever they found would take her mind off what happened with the foreman and make their stay at the Regal Hotel a short one.


	5. Ghost Problems

11:38 AM.

The small room Thorn found herself in was a mess; several filing cabinets were opened and their contents were scattered all over the floor with the exception of a red carpet in the center of the room that was paper-free. Glancing over them as she went to Dusk, Thorn realized that most of them were financial records, old guestbooks, maintenance requests, and other documents one would expect from a hotel.

"So what did you find?'" Thorn asked her bandmate.

"I dunno, Luna spotted something while we were waiting for the foreman to leave and she told me to get you," Dusk explained.

Dusk led Thorn over to Luna, who was leaning over a folding table examining some documents. As Thorn and Dusk approached, Luna turned around.

"Glad to see the foreman didn't catch you," Luna said. "You okay?"

Thorn nodded. "Yeah I'm good, guess he got spooked or something." A lie. Thorn knew full well she was responsible for the foreman to flee in terror. Thorn put on a smile for Luna and she quickly changed the subject. "Dusk said you found something."

Luna nodded and stepped aside so Thorn and Dusk could see the papers on the table. Some of the papers were yellowed with age while others appeared to be fresh copies of older documents. Thorn's eyes widened in excitement as she realized that she was looking at detailed drawings of each floor of the Regal Hotel.

"They're floor plans," Thorn stated as she held the plan for the lobby. Looking at the plan, she saw that the room they were in was circled and labeled with a small handwritten note reading "Enter Here." She also noticed several rooms with black 'Xs' drawn over them, though they were unlabeled and there was no key to interpret them.

"What do these X's mean?" Thorn asked as she turned to Luna.

"I don't know," Luna replied. She pointed to a few other floor plans. "But they're only on the first floor and the basement."

"Isn't that where the ghost is supposed to be?" Dusk asked as she tossed a floor plan she was looking at onto the table.

"Yeah," Thorn said with a grin. "And maybe the treasure. You know, 'X marks the spot.'"

"I don't know about that," Luna countered, "these could just be construction plans."

Thorn crossed her arms. "For the basement? The construction is happening on the upper stories."

"I'm sure they had to do rewiring or something down there," Luna said, shaking her head. "That's a more likely explanation than this being a treasure map."

Thorn paused and glanced at the basement floor plan. A bunch of unlabeled Xs, 'Enter Here' written on the room they were in and few other illegible marks were all she had to work with. And unfortunately for her, there were a number of other explanations for what they had found.

Thorn shook her head and placed the plan on the table.

"I don't know," Thorn confessed. "But they've got to be important."

Thorn grunted as she continued her examination of the blueprints, hoping to find some detail she missed. Of course, there was nothing. But just as she was about to give up, something sticking out of the pile of papers on the corner of the table caught her eye. She pulled the paper out, discovering a single piece of stationery, folded and formerly sealed with a wax seal. Yet the stationery was burnt, its bottom half gone and much of the edges were charred. Thorn unfolded the stationery and sighed, seeing most of the document was blackened by the fire and illegible, including the possible sender and recipient. Yet there was a sliver of legible writing in the center of the document:

 _"...eighteen will be present. I do_ [Ilegible] _but the Repair will commence as scheduled. I truly believe we can fix_ [Illegible. Several sentences missing.] _To fix oneself is necessary to become com_ [Illegible] _herwise_ [illegible] _arante failu_ [Illegible] _You will work the lower half._ [Illegible. Several sentences missing.] _When done, we shall all_ [Illegible] _fill the hole, the lack, and_ [Illegible} _toget_ [Illegible} _who_ [Illegible]. _Only then can we_ [Illegible] _restore Ein S_ [Illegible. Rest of document missing]. _"_

Thorn shook her head, placing the letter on the table.

"What did it say?" Dusk asked.

Thorn looked down at the letter, noticing what looked like an upside-down 'F' on the wax seal. "I don't know." She let Dusk take a look at the letter.

"This doesn't make any sense," Dusk replied.

"Well duh, most of the letter is missing," Thorn said with frustration, not aimed at Dusk though, but the letter itself.

"Hmm, looks like someone was trying to salvage stuff from the fire," Luna said, pulling out a box of burnt documents from underneath the table much to Thorn's surprise. The Hex Girls rummaged through what left of the documents, examining each charred paper for clues, but after several minutes of tedious checking, they tucked the box back under the table.

"Damn, I was hoping we'd find something useful," Thorn sighed.

"We have the blueprints," Luna said." That will help us search the hotel and if the cops or anyone else shows up, we can easily find places to hide or outrun them."

"You're right," Thorn said with a nod as her attention turned back to the blueprints. She removed her phone from her purse and snapped a picture of the basement floor plan.

"Not a bad idea," Luna said and she also took a few pictures herself.

Thorn photographed the remainder of the floor plans. "Yeah, I don't want to carry them around or have whoever put them here come back and find them missing." She also took a picture of the burnt letter, just in case.

As Thorn snapped the last picture, she noticed the time on her phone and gasped.

"Shit, it's almost noon. We need to check-in with Gus," Thorn exclaimed. She dialed Gus's number but the call quickly dropped. "Ugh, I don't have service in here. Can one of you try?"

Dusk and Luna took out their phones. Dusk walked off toward the center of the room searching for a signal while Luna held her phone up to the ceiling.

"Okay, I got some serv-AH!" Dusk screamed.

"Dusk!" Thorn shouted.

There was a loud thud and Thorn turned around only to see that Dusk was gone. Thorn and Luna ran over to where Dusk was. Instead, they found a large rectangular hole, perhaps five feet in length and seven feet in width, that was previously covered by the carpet, which now hung from the other side of the hole like a red waterfall.

Thorn crouched and peered into the hole. "Dusk are you okay!?"

Dusk didn't answer.

Thorn's heart was racing and she was starting to tremble. Her friend wasn't answering and she could only see a large pile of boxes that Dusk presumably fell into. _Please be okay. Please be okay._

"Dusk are you all right?" Luna called out.

Again no answer.

"Dusk can you hear us!" Thorn shouted.

_Please answer Jane._

* * *

Dusk groaned and she rubbed her head. She blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She found herself in a pile of cardboard boxes full of blankets, pillows, and other soft fabrics, as several of them were broken from her impact. _Ugh, first you're knocking things over and now you're falling through holes in the ground. Get a hold of yourself and start paying attention to your surroundings._ She pushed a couple of pillows and broken boxes off of her and stood up.

"Dusk! Are you okay!?"

Dusk looked up and saw Thorn and Luna peering into the hole she had fallen through, both of them with worried expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Dusk finally called back. "I got lucky and landed on a pile of boxes full of pillows."

She heard her friends sigh, both glad that she wasn't hurt.

"Wow, that really is lucky," Luna said. "Considering you easily fell ten, maybe fifteen feet straight down."

"Yeah…" Dusk said. She glanced at the floor. It was concrete. _Damn, I'm luckier than I thought._ Not wanting to imagine what would've happened if the boxes weren't there, she looked back at her friends.

"Doesn't look like I'll be getting back up that way," Dusk sighed. "I'll try to find another way out of here."

"Where exactly are you?" Thorn asked.

"I guess the basement, but I can't see much," Dusk replied. She bent down and rummaged through the pile of boxes. After a minute or so, she recovered her phone. Using her phone's light, she illuminated a small area around, enough to get her bearings. She could see piles of boxes stacked in an orderly fashion, miscellaneous furniture wrapped in clear plastic and covered in boxes, and various appliances unplugged and covered in dust.

"Yeah it's definitely the basement," Dusk said.

"Okay, the basement door is on the other side of the hotel," Luna said as she looked over the photo of the floor plan on her phone. "The basement is one giant room, so all you have to do is head to the northeast corner and the stairs are there."

"How the hell am I supposed to know which way is northeast?" Dusk said.

"Keep walking straight until you hit a wall and then turn right," Luna clarified.

Dusk glanced in the direction she was supposed to walk and was met with a wall of boxes and crates blocking her path. "I'll try."

"We'll meet you at the door," Luna said.

Dusk nodded and stepped out of the box pile she was standing in and got her bearing.

"Please be careful Dusk," Thorn cautioned. "The ghost is down there."

Dusk frowned. _Of course, I'm alone with a ghost._ She dug the dagger from her jacket pocket and gripped it tightly. While it wouldn't do much against a real ghost, she could do some damage to a dude in a mask.

"I will," Dusk said as she looked up at her worried friends.

Luna nodded and disappeared from sight. Thorn lowered her head and hesitated for a moment as she looked back at Dusk. She sighed before turning away. As their footsteps faded, Dusk found herself alone in the darkness.

 _All you have to do is find the basement stairs. That should be wicked easy._ Dusk stood on her toes as she tried to peer over the stacks of boxes blocking her most direct path but her phone's light wasn't bright enough to spot the exit. She groaned and lowered her phone. She looked around for a few moments before spotting a small pathway in the stacks of items.

"Aha," she said with a grin. But as she approached the pathway, her attention was quickly brought to the ground. There she saw what looked like a set of brownish tire tracks. Kneeling down, down she grabbed a pinch of the material and it crumbled in her fingers.

"It's dirt," she said. Shining her light down the pathway, she saw that the tracks continued down a makeshift passageway. _This is weird._ The tracks were way smaller than car tires and even bike tires. With no explanation as to what made them, she shrugged them off as tracks made by the construction workers moving equipment. Regardless of their origin, following them could lead to a way out of here.

Dagger and phone in hand, Dusk followed the tracks through the winding corridor. She didn't get too far when she heard a loud thud. She spun around and saw a box on the floor. _You must've bumped into it and knocked it down without knowing._ She turned back around, raised her dagger, and resumed walking, albeit at a slightly quicker pace.

"You got this, you're just walking to the stairs," Dusk said to herself.

She flinched and her grip on the dagger tightened as she heard something metal, perhaps one of the miscellaneous household appliances, fall to the ground in a loud clamor somewhere behind her.

"Um, it's just rats knocking stuff over,'" Dusk said, trying to reassure herself that it wasn't anything dangerous. Her pace quickened to a light run _Really? Rats?_ She shook her head. _No. It's just rats. Leave it at that._

She emerged from the piles of supplies and found herself in a spacious area devoid of boxes or other packed items. Dusk shined her phone's light around her so she could assess her surroundings. The basement was immense and was more like a sublevel encompassing the same area as the aboveground levels than a true basement. A row of concrete supports, evenly spaced apart with enough room between them for a person to comfortably fit through, went down the entirety of the basement from what she could tell. It was as though everything had been moved to one side of the basement, as aside from the supports, there was nothing between the boxes and the far wall she could barely see in the periphery of the light.

"Okay, just walk straight till you find the wall," Dusk said. But before she could advance, she noticed the tire tracks trailing off in the opposite direction. More curiously, there was a spray-painted 'X' between the tracks a few feet from her. She gritted her teeth as she glanced at the tire tracks before looking ahead. She knew she should regroup with her bandmates who were no doubt worried sick about her, but there was something off with the 'X' and the tracks that she couldn't shake.

"Goddamnit," she muttered as she turned and walked toward the 'X' on the ground.

There wasn't much to it, it was simply an 'X' drawn in yellow spray paint. This was a construction zone after all, and it could simply be a way to mark wires or pipes. Dusk scratched her chin. _Wouldn't there be more if it was just wires or pipes?_ She followed the tracks a bit farther and didn't see any more Xs or any other symbols. Intrigued, she continued to follow the tracks.

The tracks turned and eventually led to the wall, which was really just the cement foundation. There she found another yellow 'X', this time at the base of the wall. Dusk patted the wall, searching for a button or symbol like those she encountered at the Fallen's temple, but there was nothing. Dusk sighed and looked back at the tire tracks. They continued to run parallel to the wall. Shrugging, she continued to follow them, certain that'd they lead to something of significance.

After a minute or so of walking, Dusk stopped and sniffled. There was a faint smell of paint and sure enough, she found a third yellow 'X' on the ground. Crouching, she tapped the 'X' with the tip of her dagger; a bit of yellow paint was smeared on the dagger.

"It's fresh," Dusk exclaimed.

Clunk!

Dusk spun around with her dagger raised, and shined her light toward the noise. A large piece of piping had fallen from its pile and was slowly rolling toward her. There was a light thud when it hit the supports.

"Please somehow be rats," Dusk begged as she slowly backed away from the 'X.'

Dusk froze when she heard it. It was like a gust of wind howling through the night; a soft wail, ever-increasing in pitch and intensity, that echoed through the basement. Dusk felt a cold chill run down her spine as the wailing grew louder. _The ghost is here. I'm fucked._ She could barely hold her phone and dagger due to her sweaty palms. Her breathing was hastened and she closed her eyes, the ghastly wail quite loud. Her body tensed as she felt like someone was watching her; she was certain that the phantom was right behind her.

And then the wailing stopped.

Dusk gulped. _Don't look. Don't look._

Yet the urge to do so was there. Dusk gritted her teeth. She needed to get out of there. Or fight. She took a deep breath and held it. _If this is just some fucker in a mask, I'm taking him down._ She exhaled and squeezed the dagger as tightly as she could.

"AHHHH!" Dusk screamed as she spun around, cutting and slashing the space in front of her in a blind furry with the dagger. There were no screams of agony, causing Dusk to open her eyes to see if she had inflicted any damage on whoever was behind her.

Instead, there was nothing there.

Dusk sighed with relief. "Okay, you're just spooking yourself. That wailing had to be the pipes."

"Geeeeet ouuuuuuuttt!"

Dusk shuddered upon hearing the raspy demand; it was as if someone was struggling to breathe as they spoke behind her. Dusk clenched the dagger in a tight fist ready to stab at whatever ghoul was there. She turned around and thrust her arm forward.

Dusk gasped.

Standing within arm's reach of her was a glowing snow-white figure clad in a simple, monk-like hooded robe that extended down to its feet, covering them, and with a pair of short sleeves. Its arms were scrawny, the flesh, cracked and dried, was as white as the robes and pulled tightly over its bones. Its nails were long and grimey, more like claws than fingernails. The head was lowered and the hood covered its face.

And Dusk's hand and dagger had phased through the entity, causing it no harm.

She couldn't run. She couldn't even pull her arm back, the fear too great. She tried to shout but all she could manage to do was to incomprehensibly stutter as she gazed at the intangible specter. She couldn't think clearly, and had no escape plan; all she knew was that she couldn't feel the ghost and that it was no man in a mask.

The ghost cocked its head as if assessing Dusk. The phantom moved back a bit, no longer obscuring Dusk's hand. This sudden movement broke Dusk from her fear-induced trance and she slowly backed away from the ghost.

"Hehe, sorry about the uh, stabbing," Dusk nervously laughed with a fake smile, as she looked around for an escape route.

"I told you to get out," the ghost said with a wheezy voice, its head still down.

"If ya can just point me in the direction of the exit, I'll happily scram," Dusk said, slowly backing away from the ghost.

"GET OUT!" the phantom screeched. Its head jolted up and Dusk screamed. Its face was only a skull, with only a few strands of decaying hair poking out from under the hood and a few bits of peeling flesh hanging off its face. The eyes were merely green lights that glowed with an unearthly hue that sent shivers down Dusk's spine.

The phantom lunged at Dusk, and she ducked, barely avoiding the ghost's wretched swipe. With its other arm, the ghost swung at Dusk in a downward motion and Dusk clumsily sidestepped the ghost's attack. More so on instinct than rational thought, Dusk thrust the dagger into the ghost's side but the blade simply passed through the phantom without harm.

_Just fucking run!_

She turned and went into a full sprint toward the basement stairs. She briefly looked behind her and the ghost was on her heels, screeching and floating just above the ground in pursuit. She gasped, her lungs were burning. There was no way she was going to outrun the ghost in the open. She swerved around one of the support columns, narrowly avoiding a collision with it. She then went around another, hoping to confuse or throw off the ghost. She turned around and gasped as the ghost passed right through the support columns like they weren't there.

 _SHIT! It's not working!_ She moved away from the support columns, her initial plan failed. She looked behind her and screamed as the ghost was just out of arm's reach of her. Running wasn't working. She needed to hide and lose it.

Panting, she made a sharp turn, causing the phantom to float past her. She leaped over some crates before diving behind a large dresser covered with plastic sheets. She turned her phone off, sat against the dresser, and hid in the darkness, the only sounds were her racing heart pounding against her chest and her quickened breaths.

After taking a few moments to catch her breath, Dusk poked her head around the dresser. The ghost was floating over the boxes and furniture in complete silence, clearly searching for her. She adjusted herself so she was out of sight.

 _How the fuck am I going to get out of this?_ Her breathing was still heavy and she needed time to recover, so simply running wasn't going to work. She also returned her dagger to her jacket pocket as it was of no use. She groaned. She had no idea what to do. _Fuck! What do I do? Wait! I can warn Luna and Thorn._ She took out her phone and promptly shielded her eyes from its light.

Thud!

 _Stupid! It saw the light._ Dusk pocketed her phone and scrambled to her feet, though she remained crouched, ready to run if need be. There was a shuffle like a piece of furniture was being moved out of the way. _Ugh, where is it?_ She peered into the darkness but couldn't see anything. She sighed and steadied her breathing so it could be quieter. She then listened for the noise, hoping to determine where it came from and where the ghost was.

Thud!

It was closer this time, no more than a few feet in front of her hiding spot.

Dusk gulped and looked over the dresser.

"GET OUT!"

Dusk shouted. She stumbled over and fell down, avoiding the ghost's swipe. She tried backing away from the ghost which was now hovering right in front of her and above the dresser. There was a loud crack, and the dresser shook and began to tip over. Panicking, Dusk crawled away as the dresser toppled over and came crashing down where she had been laying. The ghost screeched as it swung at her. Dusk rolled over and onto her stomach causing the ghost to miss, its hand vanishing into the floor.

Grunting, Dusk pushed herself up but with limited sight, she banged her head on something hard. She groaned, rubbing her head as she stumbled past the ghost and in her daze, ran into a large box that crumpled beneath her. "Ugh!" she shouted, clambering off the crushed box. She gasped as the ghost lunged at her. She dropped to the floor, avoiding the ghost which floated over the boxes. With adrenaline coursing through her, she scrambled to her feet and ran past the ghost as it returned to attack, knocking over several boxes in the process. She ran back toward the open portion of the basement, a hopeful smile spreading across her face as she escaped the maze of boxes and sprinted across the open area. The ghost let loose a blood-curdling scream as Dusk managed to put some distance between herself and the specter.

Dusk grinned. Ahead of her was a small window that let a little light in. She could see the silhouette of the basement stairs, a beacon of hope in the darkness.

"GET OUT!"

She looked behind her and gasped at the sight of the phantom's horrid nails almost scraping the back of her neck. She screamed and her pace became a sprint. Her lungs were burning, her heart was pounding and the aches in her leg were even worse; she hardly had time to recover from her previous sprint and was suffering for it. Looking away from the pursuing ghost, she shouted and she turned right upon reaching the far wall. The stairs! She grabbed the handrail and practically threw herself up the steps.

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

She never looked back as she trudged her way up the narrow staircase, which was so tight she worried she might get stuck and subsequently caught by the ghost. The door at the top of the steps grew closer, and before her eyes, a literal light in the darkness was widening. The door was opening. She ran faster but gasped as something pulled her back. _NO!_ She fell to the steps, turning as she did. She heard a tear and saw that her jacket had been caught on the railing. Without hesitation, she pulled on her jacket, and with one tug, she tore it loose and freed herself. She got to her feet and continued her ascent to safety. With a final grunt, she took a longer stride, bypassing the top two steps and the wider top as her momentum carried her forward, and she fell into the light.


	6. Trying to Pick Up the Pieces

12:01

Thorn couldn't help but look back at the hole in the floor. Leaving Dusk alone in the basement with a potentially real and hostile ghost was discomforting and probably the worst mistake she made since arriving at the hotel. _I should've gone down there with her._ Ignoring the fall, it would've been safer if all three of them were together. Instead of having each other's backs, she lowered her head and followed Luna into the lobby.

"Relax, Dusk can handle herself," Luna said, putting a hand on Thorn's shoulder.

Thorn sighed. "I know, but what if she runs into the ghost?"

"If the ghost is down there, I think it will be more afraid of Dusk than she is of it," Luna said with a chuckle.

Thorn found herself slightly grinning. There was some merit to that statement as an angry Dusk was a force to be reckoned with and anyone in a ghost costume would be wise to avoid her. Yet Thorn's small smile soon faded.

"We shouldn't have left her by herself," Thorn said, looking back at the storage room.

"The sooner we get to the basement, the sooner we can regroup with her," Luna assured her.

"You're right," Thorn said with a nod. There was no point to stand in the lobby and worry about Dusk when they could go find her.

Luna removed her hand from Thorn's shoulder and pulled up the picture of the floor plans for the ground level on her phone.

"Okay, so it looks like the entrance to the basement is on the other side of the hotel," Luna said, raising her phone to Thorn.

Leaning closer, Thorn saw the basement's location. Indeed, the basement entrance was on the backside of the hotel, which required following a hallway along the perimeter of the building. It wouldn't be too hard to get to, just a bit out of the way.

"Sounds like a plan," Thorn said. She looked across the lobby and saw the hallway they needed to take. "I guess we go this way."

"Pretty much," Luna said with a nod. "Now let's go find Dusk."

They had barely left the lobby when Thorn clutched her shoulder and grunted. She stumbled into the wall as a searing pain grew in intensity across her shoulder like someone was pressing a hot iron against her. She shouted as the pain spread down her arm as if boiling water was flowing down it.

"Thorn what's happening!" Luna shouted as she tried to keep Thorn from falling over.

Thorn gritted her teeth, shaking her head in fear and confusion. But just when she thought the pain would worsen, the pain subsided as quickly as it appeared. Taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Thorn regained her composure.

"Ugh, my shoulder was acting up," Thorn said, rubbing her shoulder. "I'm fine now. It must've been a lingering symptom of the Woodrose."

But she didn't feel fine. The pain had emanated from the symbol burnt onto her shoulder, which reminded her of what the Fallen had told her. That one his followers would find her with it. Why the follower was supposed to find her was unknown, and that was worrisome. What if the cultist tried to kill them? What if the cultist found Dusk? What if…

"Are you sure you're alright?" Luna asked, interrupting Thorn from her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Thorn said as she resumed walking down the hall, albeit at a quicker pace.

Luna quickly caught up with her. "The pain came from that marking on your shoulder, didn't it?"

Thorn rounded the corner. "We need to get to Dusk."

"Stop being evasive," Luna said, stepping in front of Thorn and blocking her. "If there's something you've neglected to tell me, now's the time to say it."

Thorn groaned and turned away from Luna, but Luna grabbed her arm and pulled her back so they faced each other. Thorn sighed and her face reddened. She didn't want to tell her that a cultist was coming after them as that would no doubt scare her even more. She mentioned it once when she was trying to prove the Fallen had possessed her, but deliberately didn't elaborate on it or bring it up again when she tried to convince Luna to go to the Regal Hotel as she was scared Luna wouldn't come if she knew this. But now Luna needed to know. Partially because the sudden burning sensation from the symbol was alarming, but that wasn't the reason that was bothering her. No. Continuing to be untruthful to her friend made Thorn's stomach turn and sent a wave of pain across her body that made the burning on her shoulder feel like nothing. With a heavy sigh, Thorn answered Luna. "The Fallen put this symbol on me so one of his followers could find me."

Luna rubbed her head and groaned. "What? I thought you did that to yourself? Why the hell didn't you tell us this before we came here?"

She felt a sharp pain like someone had stabbed her with a knife, but she continued. "I mentioned it only in passing and didn't want to elaborate on it so you'd forget about it because I knew you wouldn't come here if you knew someone was looking for us," Thorn said as she lowered her head, slinking away as the shame and guilt chewed her up like a ravenous beast. The Fallen's words echoed in her mind, calling her out for guilt-tripping Dusk and Luna into coming with her to the Fallen's temple. And here she was, bringing them with her to another dangerous location by withholding information. "And all three of us needed to be together to survive whatever's coming." She looked at Luna. _I'm a terrible person. You deserve so much better Kim._ "I'm so sorry, I should've been upfront with both of you."

Luna mumbled something under her breath, perhaps a swear based on her expression, before sighing. "Do you know anything about this follower?"

Thorn shook her head. _Why isn't she calling me out on my shitty behavior? I manipulated her…_ that though simultaneously sent shivers down her spine and made her blood boil. _I can't keep doing this. Not to Luna of all people._ "The Fallen didn't mention anything about who his follower is."

"Then there's not much we can do about it now other than find Dusk as quickly as possible before this guy gets here if he hasn't already arrived," Luna said as she briefly glanced at the floor plans on her phone before looking back at Thorn. "The basement's just around the corner at the end of the hall."

Thorn felt uneasy as she watched Luna put her phone away; she seemed distant and for the first time, Thorn couldn't read her bandmate. Did she accept Thorn's apology? Was Luna angry at her? Thorn didn't know and not knowing was unnerving. But if Luna wanted to find Dusk and put this behind them, then Thorn accepted that decision. She only took a few steps before Luna spoke.

"What else aren't you telling me?"

"What?" Thorn mumbled as she stopped in her tracks, caught off guard by Luna's question.

"There's more to what happened last night, isn't there?" Luna asked.

Thorn sighed as she glanced away from her friend. She recalled the details of last night that she omitted in the account she gave her friends' images of her mother and of the Fallen and of herself fading away filled her head. With each memory, the discomfort and pain she experienced from them returned.

"Thorn, I'm more than your friend, I'm your sister; you can tell me anything," Luna said, her voice calm and lacking the anger Thorn expected from her. "You'll feel better if you tell me what happened."

Thorn looked back at Luna. _I will not lie, manipulate or withhold stuff from Luna. She deserves the truth._ With a painful sigh, Thorn revealed the full truth.

"I told you that the Fallen had all my memories," she began. "But he made me relive some of them, just to show me that he understood me better than I do."

"Like what?" Luna asked.

"The night my mother died," Thorn revealed.

"Oh," Luna gasped, putting her arm around Thorn. "I'm so sorry Thorn. I could only imagine how difficult that was."

"Yeah," Thorn weakly replied. "It was...hard seeing her again, especially watching her leave for the last time." She paused and wiped her eyes. "The Fallen wanted me to try to save her."

"Why would it want you to do that?"

"Part of it was because he wanted to watch me fail and suffer. So he used my memory of her against me." Again, she paused to wipe her eyes as they continued down the hall.

"Did you save her?"

Thorn shook her head. "I didn't try to. She's been gone for most of my life and I've accepted that." She looked down the hall, reminiscing of the little time she spent with her mother. "I didn't want him to ruin my memory of her with whatever schemes he had."

Luna was quiet for a moment, clearly in thought over what Thorn said. Then to Thorn's surprise, Luna smiled.

"So you beat him," she said.

"I dunno about that," Thorn said as they passed a flight of stairs. "I barely stopped myself from chasing after my mom, and even then, the Fallen would've killed me if the Broken didn't intervene."

"But you still beat him," Luna said. "You resisted him long enough to ruin his plans. And think about it, his plan would've never worked because he couldn't perfectly impersonate you."

Thorn stopped walking. "What do you mean? He knew everything about me."

"But he didn't have your willpower," Luna said. "You stopped yourself from falling for the Fallen's tricks. He would've known that if he could perfectly impersonate you, and therefore plan for that."

 _Could that be true?_ This perspective was one Thorn certainly never considered. And why would she? She had focused on all the negativity and that was what broke her. But, as Luna pointed out, there was a positive outlook to what happened. She couldn't be perfectly imitated. And Luna had noticed this; she would've learned of the Fallen's deception.

Thorn smiled. "Thanks," she said to her friend. "I needed that."

Luna smiled back and the two continued down the hall.

* * *

"Jeeze, is this supposed to be a basement or a bunker?" Thorn said as she and Luna stood before the large, metal door with a faded "Hotel Staff Only" painted on it that, according to the blueprints, led to the basement.

"Yeah this is the right place," Luna said after checking her phone.

Without hesitation, Thorn turned the handle and pulled. The door screeched as it opened a bit and Thorn grunted as she continued to the pull, but the door was far heavier than she imagined.

"A little help here," Thorn said. Luna grabbed the handle and the two pulled. The hinges groaned in resistance as the door opened enough for a person to fit through.

"There's no way the treasure isn't down there," Thorn said, still surprised by how heavy the door was. With the door open, Thorn noticed that the basement had more than a passing resemblance to a vault.

"Well," Luna began as she went to enter the basement, though she turned to address Thorn. "Let's go find D-Ahhh!"

Thud!

Luna was on the ground with Dusk sprawled on top of her.

"I saw the ghost! I saw the ghost! I saw the ghost!" Dusk shouted in a panic, her face paler than usual.

Thorn's eyes widened in both fear and excitement. "You did?"

"Yeah, you didn't hear me screaming up the steps! It tried attacking me and I tried to fight it but I couldn't hit it and then it chased me and it's right behind me and now you gotta go kick its ass with magic!" Dusk replied with haste.

Thorn shook her head in bewilderment, still processing what Dusk told her. She glanced behind the door, expecting to see the ghost, but saw nothing.

"How about you get off of me first," Luna grumbled from beneath Dusk.

"Hehe, sorry," Dusk giggled as she climbed off Luna and then helped her up.

After giving Dusk a minute or so to recover and making sure she was unhurt, Thorn addressed her. "Can you explain what happened but a bit slower this time?"

"Okay," Dusk began. "After I fell through the hole, I found some tire tracks and started following them."

"Tire tracks?" Luna interrupted with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, tire tracks. You know the tracks left behind by tires," Dusk said with a smirk, which elicited an eye-roll from Luna and a quiet giggle from Thorn. "Anyway, I followed them and found a bunch of 'X's' painted on the ground and walls."

"Like an 'X marks the spot' kinda deal?" Thorn suggested, thinking about the possibility of these 'X's being related to the treasure.

Dusk shrugged. "I dunno. Could be construction related."

 _True_ , Thorn thought. _Can't jump to conclusions._

"So about this ghost," Luna said.

"Right," Dusk said. "So after I found this one 'X', the ghost appeared and demanded I leave. I tried fighting it, but that obviously didn't work, so I got the fuck out of there."

"Why did you think fighting a ghost would be a good idea?" Luna asked, shaking her head.

"I thought it was a guy in a mask," Dusk said, defending herself. "But my knife just went through the ghost like it wasn't there."

"That's odd," Thorn said, crossing her arms. "The two ghosts we've encountered were both tangible."

"Alexander was able to become intangible, and how do you know other ghosts aren't that way," Dusk countered, still tense from the encounter.

Dusk raised a fair point. The ghost of Alexander Levre was able to become intangible at will and given they only encountered two ghosts, it was impossible to say if Alexander and Sarah were the default for ghosts. But still, it was an interesting detail and seemed to confirm that it wasn't a man in a mask.

"Were you at least able to get a good look at it?" Thorn asked.

"Yeah," Dusk said. She nervously glanced at the basement before providing the details. "It looked like a corpse wearing a hooded robe and it had these horrible glowing, green eyes."

Another odd detail. Both Sarah and Alexander looked like, for the most part, how they did during life. But again, Thorn couldn't be sure all ghosts looked the same, so she kept her thoughts to herself.

"You said it was wearing robes, " Luna said. "Did they look like the ones the cultists were wearing?"

"I guess, they were just white robes," Dusk answered with a shrug.

"Hmm, so this could be a ghost cultist," Luna said. She shot a glance at Thorn. "I wonder if this cultist was sent here."

Thorn flinched as she detected the subtle frustration in Luna's tone. Evidently, she was still upset about Thorn not telling them about the cultist that was supposed to find them.

"Uh, what?" Dusk asked.

Thorn sighed. _I gotta tell her._ She turned to Dusk. "This morning after I sobered up, I wasn't entirely honest with you two." She paused as Dusk rightfully grimaced. "The marking the Fallen burnt onto my shoulder was so one of its followers could find me."

"Oh shit," Dusk gasped as she took a step toward Thorn. "Are you telling me that ghost was sent by the Fallen! Why the fuck didn't you tell us the Fallen was sending shit after us!"

"I did, but it was in a way that you two wouldn't notice it cause I was scared you two wouldn't come here with me," Thorn confessed. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, stopping herself from getting angry with Dusk as Dusk wasn't the one lying. "Look I'm sorry I didn't tell you the whole truth and I'll be entirely honest with you two going forward, but it's too late to bicker about what I did; we're here and we need to find that treasure."

Dusk rolled her eyes and groaned. "Are you at least going to use magic to protect us from the ghost?"

Thorn winced at the mention of magic. What if she tried to protect them with magic but hurt them instead? She almost hurt the foreman when she lost control of her magic for a few seconds and the possibility of that happening again and causing harm to her bandmates was there. She was silent for too long as she thought about how to answer the question. "We don't know for certain that this is a real ghost, but…" she removed the knife from her purse. "I'll do what I can to keep us safe."

"Yeah, cause stabbing a ghost worked really well for me," Dusk mumbled as she turned her back on Thorn.

Thorn lowered her head."Wait, Dusk, that wasn't what I meant!"

Dusk grunted as she leaned against the wall checking her phone, ignoring Thorn.

"Dusk, I swear I'll keep us safe," Thorn said as she approached Dusk.

"You won't use magic," Dusk said without looking up from her phone. "You're gonna get us killed."

"I won't let that happen Dusk," Thorn affirmed.

Dusk snickered. "Yeah right."

Thorn looked her in the eye. "I won't. I promise."

"Okay that's enough," Luna said, trying to alleviate the tension. "Let's just find this stupid treasure and get out."

Dusk groaned as she put her phone away. "Fine. What's the plan then?"

"I hate to say it, but we need to go check out those 'X's you found as those are our only leads," Luna said as she looked down the stairs.

"Of course we do," Dusk groaned.

"Then that's what we'll do," Thorn said as she moved to the top of the basement steps. She gazed into the darkness, knowing full well that there was a dangerous ghost lurking there. She hesitated, and briefly looked back at her friends. Luna turned her phone's light on and was prepared to follow Thorn down, though Thorn noticed that she was slightly shaking. Dusk was different. She still leaned against the wall, seemingly observing Thorn, watching to see if she'd keep her promise.

_Let's do this._

Thorn nodded to her friends and turned her attention back to the stairs. She took a single step down the narrow stairwell, keeping the knife raised. She took another step, the light already fading. She continued on with each step she took leading her further into the unknown. She heard Luna following behind, whose phone light helped illuminate the area a bit.

Thorn stopped as she reached about two-thirds the way down. She lowered her head. She could only hear Luna's footsteps behind her. _Please don't leave us Dusk._ Thorn shook her head. _No! Don't think that! Dusk would never leave us._ But as the seconds ticked by and Dusk didn't show, the doubt resurfaced. _I fucked up._

But the sudden sound of a footstep jerked Thorn from her thoughts.

"What's the holdup?" Dusk asked from the upper steps.

"Er, nothing…" Thorn replied with a smile.

She continued down with both her friends behind her until she finally reached the bottom. She brushed her hand against the wall in search of a light switch and after a few seconds, she found it. But flipping it did nothing and the only light came from Luna's phone. Sighing, Thorn removed her own phone from her purse and turned its light on. She could see piles of boxes, furniture, and other miscellaneous items on one half of the basement and empty space on the other.

"Okay, where were these Xs?" Thorn asked.

"There was one along the far wall," Dusk answered. "So I guess we just follow the wall until we find the X."

Not exactly the most detailed plan, but it would have to work. The three girls made their way to the far wall. Upon reaching it, Thorn felt...something. A strange feeling, a bit like discomfort, as if something wasn't as it seemed. But at the same time, Thorn felt like something was pulling her farther into the basement. She stopped and shined her light around the area, looking for something out of place but there was nothing. She shook her head, trying to think of some explanation for what was happening.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked.

"I don't know," Thorn said as she looked into the darkness. "There's something down here."

"Yeah the ghost," Dusk said.

Thorn shook her head. "It's something else."

Without thinking, Thorn ran forward, like a magnet being pulled toward an even stronger one. She could hear her friends call for her and run after her, but she kept her pace. She wanted to keep going. No. She needed to. As she continued running, the feeling intensified and she was certain that whatever she was being drawn toward was nearing. Her eyes widened in excitement as a splotch of yellow paint suddenly came into the view. The 'X'! But the excitement waned as she realized whatever she was running toward was past the 'X'.

Clunk!

Thorn froze. A box fell and Thorn could hear what sounded like shuffling coming from the boxes. She was torn between running toward whatever was 'pulling' her and stopping to assess the sudden movement adjacent to her. After a few seconds, the 'pull' was too strong and she began to run.

"What was that run all about?" Luna said from behind, slightly winded from the abrupt sprint.

Thorn stopped. _Control yourself. If you keep running, you're going to put Luna and Dusk at risk._ She turned around, much to her discomfort as she felt she was near wherever her destination was.

"I heard some shuffling and a box fell," Thorn said as she shone her light in the direction of the noise. Of course, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"I guess it's nothing," Thorn said with a sigh of relief.

"Geeeettttt ouuutttttt!"

The three girls spun around only to find the ghost behind them, Dusk and Luna frantically running behind Thorn.

"Thorn, do some fucking magic!" Dusk pleaded.

Thorn just stared at the ghost as the phantom neared, its arms raised and its green-eyed gaze focused on them. Dusk was correct, this ghost looked nothing like Sarah or Alexander, and Thorn couldn't help comparing it to the various costumed crooks Mystery Inc frequently dealt with. But as instinct kicked in, Thorn could feel her magic consolidating around the knife, signified with an ever-brightening blue glow.

The ghost abruptly stopped and hovered motionlessly several feet from her.

"What?" The disembodied voice was distant and distinct from the ghost. Thorn looked past the ghost for its source, but there was only darkness.

"Kick its ass Thorn!" Dusk shouted from behind, breaking Thorn from her concentration and her focus shifted back to the ghost.

Something was off, but before she could pinpoint it, Thorn noticed her glowing hand and gasped. _No magic. No magic. No magic._ The light vanished and the ghost, snapping out of its confusion, swung at her.

Thorn shrieked as she was tugged aside, dropping her knife in the process, and the ghost's attack missed her.

"What the fuck, why didn't you attack!" Dusk grunted as she and Luna released Thorn.

Thorn didn't have time to answer as the ghost turned toward them and screeched.

"Run!" Luna shouted.

Thorn turned and ran, her friends slightly ahead of her. The ghost continued to screech at them, and Thorn didn't have to turn around to know that it was chasing them.

"Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Thorn's lungs burnt and her legs ached while everything around her morphed into a dark blur; there was no other goal than to run as fast she could. She followed the screams and footsteps of her bandmates and somehow, they managed to reach the stairs and quickly ran up them but the narrow stairwell slowed them. There was a chorus of terrified shouts, grunts, and screams as each girl frantically pushed and shoved their way up the steps; they were practically climbing over each other to reach the light of the hallway. They reached the top and all three girls spilled onto the floor. They scrambled to the opposite wall and laid on the floor, panting from the run.

"So why the hell didn't you attack the ghost?" Dusk asked between quick breaths.

"There was something off about that ghost," Thorn said as she briefly looked back toward the steps and saw that the ghost was gone. "The way it reacted to me was weird. Like it was surprised."

"No offense Thorn, but you were the weird one down there," Luna said, still trying to catch her breath. "Why'd you run off like that? You put us all in danger."

"I don't know," Thorn said as she clutched her head. "I just felt drawn to something farther in the basement."

"It's gotta be some magic of some kind," Dusk said. "Since you're a witch, you're more sensitive to magic."

Thorn stepped back from Dusk. "No...you just made that up."

"Why else would you act like an idiot?" Dusk asked. "Or why you were about to throw a blue fireball at the ghost. Magic. Like if you weren't so afraid of it and actually controlled it, I doubt we'd be in this mess."

Thorn shook her head. "No," she mumbled. _No magic. No magic._ There needed to be some explanation for it. She turned to Luna, but she just shrugged.

"Um, maybe the ghost did something to me," Thorn said, trying to shift the blame onto something else.

"You said the ghost reacted like it was surprised, so I don't think that's the cause of your behavior," Luna countered. "I know you're not going to like this, but I think Dusk's on to something."

"Yeah, Thorn needs to control her magic,' Dusk added with a grunt. "And maybe we won't die here."

Thorn shuddered. Hardly ten minutes ago, she promised Dusk that she'd keep them safe. But then she did the opposite. She failed her friends. But why? Was she drawn to something magical? She hated to admit it but it was possible. Looking back on the incidents in Shardon and Bolfied, she had 'known' or 'sensed' magic from other mages and objects before encountering them. Perhaps something similar occurred here but on a larger scale. Perhaps that was why she hesitated with the ghost; it wasn't magic.

But admitting to all that meant she needed to use magic. And that posed a risk to everyone around her. What if she threw an orb of energy at the ghost and it turned out to be some kind of costume, like the one her father used in the town's scam to bring in tourists? Or what if Dusk and Luna didn't move behind her fast enough and she hit them with the magic? Yet at the same time, if the ghost was real, her not fighting back put Dusk and Luna in harm's way.

"Damnit!" Thorn shouted.

"What's wrong?" Luna asked.

Thorn needed something to distract her. "Ugh, we need a new plan."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Um okay, what do you propose?"

"GET OUT!"

All three girls spun around and saw the ghost emerging from the basement. The decrepit phantom, floating in the air, lunged at them. The girls screamed and bolted down the hallway as the ghost pursued them.

"There's a staircase we can take," Thorn shouted as they rounded the corner. Sure enough, the staircase came into the view. Without hesitation, Thorn flung open the door and the Hex Girls ran up the stairs to the upper levels of the hotel.


	7. Something Wicked

12:30 PM

"I think we lost him," Thorn panted as she, Luna, and Dusk waited at the top of the stairwell, all tired from their sprint. Several minutes had passed since they ran up the stairs and the ghost never appeared, giving them precious time to rest. While Thorn was thankful for this much-needed respite, she knew they weren't without their problems; the ghost's presence on the ground floor showed that it wasn't confined to the basement and that they were at risk anywhere in the hotel. Then to throw more salt on the wound, they were still nowhere closer to finding the treasure and were running out of time before they had to get back to Gus.

But worse, for Thorn anyway, was that there was almost certainly magic in the vicinity and it had affected her; it clouded her judgment and she put her friends in danger, despite promising Dusk she wouldn't let harm come to them. The guilt was chewing her up to the point where it made her physically ill and she could barely look at Dusk and Luna; she was letting her friends down and that was worse than any ghost.

"Shit!" Luna suddenly grunted, shaking Thorn from her thoughts. Luna dug into her purse and Thorn heard Luna's phone going off. "It's Gus. We forgot to call him."

"Oh," Thorn managed to say. _Just what we need, another problem._

Luna answered her phone. "Hey Gus," she said, doing her best to sound cheery. "Sorry about not calling you, we were caught up with all the exhibits." Luna paused and she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, we're all here and I'll put you on speaker."

"How hard is it to send a single text once an hour?" Gus angrily asked over the phone. "Cause that's all I expected, but you three couldn't even do that."

"Sorry," Dusk muttered. "We were so caught up at the museu—"

"Oh save it, I doubt you're actually at a museum," Gus interrupted. There was an uncomfortable silence before he resumed. "Have any of you looked at the questions I gave you?"

None of the girls answered. Thorn still had the folded papers nestled at the bottom of her purse, untouched since she received them.

"Of course," Gus groaned.

"We still have plenty of time to look them over," Luna said.

"I want half of your interview questions answered by the time you three get back," Gus stated. "No excuses.

Having to take precious time and answer a bunch of questions like it was a test wasn't ideal, but Thorn knew their punishment for not calling Gus could've been worse.

"Fine," Thorn said, crossing her arms and frowning. "We'll have half of them answered when we get back."

"Good, and remember to check in with me in another hour," Gus said before ending the call.

Thorn grunted as Luna put her phone away.

"Now what?" Dusk asked.

"I don't know," Thorn groaned. She glanced at Luna, hoping her friend would come up with a course of action.

Luna sighed. "We don't have a lot of options right now other than going back downstairs, which of course means running into the ghost."

With an exasperated sigh, Thorn turned around. There was a small chair positioned next to a window. Thorn sat down, looking out the rain-battered window at the grey city, and the pitter-patter of the rain somewhat calmed her. _What do we do?_ Other than going back to the basement —and likely confronting the ghost, which meant she risked using magic and hurting someone—she couldn't think of another course of action. _Ugh, what am I doing? This was a mistake. All I've done was let everyone down._ Gus. The Broken. Dusk and Luna. She failed every one of them. If she couldn't remember to make a single phone call, how was she supposed to find a hidden treasure? More importantly, how was she going to keep her friends safe from the ghost, the potential cultist, and whatever else was lurking in the shadows?

"Thorn, what's wrong?"

Thorn turned and saw Luna and Dusk standing by her. _Don't lie to them._ Thorn sighed. "I'm overwhelmed by everything going on. There's so much pressure on me to find this treasure and I don't know if I can."

Thorn felt more at ease as Luna placed a hand on her shoulder and Dusk sat on the arm of the chair

"We still have time to find it," Dusk said.

"Barely," Thorn replied with a frown. "We still have no idea how we're getting the treasure."

"I beg to differ," Luna said. Luna withdrew her hand and Thorn watched in despondent curiosity as Luna dug out the interview questions and a pen from her purse. Then to Thorn's surprise, Luna handed her the pen and paper.

"What? Are we actually answering these things?" Thorn asked, briefly glancing at the questions. 

"Flip it over," Luna replied.

Thorn turned the page to the blank backside. "Okay?"

"Do I really need to walk you through this?" Luna said with a slight chuckle. "Just write down what you know about the treasure. Organize your thoughts."

With an uncertain shrug, Thorn penned the first thought that came to her: 'In the basement?'

"Keep going," Luna goaded.

'Guarded by a ghost.' 'Necessary to stop something bad?' 'Tied to the cult.'

Thorn grunted as she dropped the pen and paper on her lap. "This isn't helping. How am I supposed to come up with a plan with this?"

Luna sighed. "We have a bit more information than that. Keep writing."

"Yeah," Dusk added. "Like those Xs on the ground. Or how you detected something magic down there."

Thorn winced at the mention of magic. She shifted in her seat, trying to shake the discomfort she felt. Magic was ruining everything. It led her into danger and caused her attempt at protecting her friends from the ghost to fail. Surely, magic would cause more misery and disruption.

"Dusk's right," Luna said, breaking Thorn from her thoughts. "As much as you don't like it, you sensed something magical in the basement and that's a very important detail. Write it down."

Thorn grimaced as she scrawled that distasteful detail onto the paper, the words appearing more like indecipherable scribbles than her normally elegant script.

"I still don't see how this helps," Thorn muttered.

Luna sighed and rubbed her head. "Thorn, I know your magic is bothering you, but you can't agonize over it; right now, we need to focus on developing a plan and executing it." She paused and looked Thorn in the eyes, the seriousness Thorn saw caught her off guard. "You need to calm down, for all our sakes."

Thorn went to reply but was left speechless. She turned away from Luna and back at the sheet of paper. _I've screwed up if I pissed off Luna._ She leaned back in the chair and sighed. _But she's right. If we're going to survive this, I need to get a grip on myself._ Thorn closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. _Calm down and focus on the task at hand. You can do this._ She opened her eyes. "Okay."

Luna and Dusk smiled, as Thorn looked back down at the paper. She wrote a few more phrases. 'Ghost pursues anyone who goes in the basement.' 'Ghost is intangible.' 'Search near yellow Xs.'

"We need to lure the ghost away," Thorn said. She swallowed as what she was about to say was the last thing she wanted to admit. "Then I go down and follow the magic."

Luna gave a slow nod. "Yeah," she quietly said. "That's what I figured we'd have to do."

"So, does that mean one of us has to go back down and have the ghost chase them?" Dusk asked.

Thorn and Luna nodded as Dusk hopped off the chair and frowned in response. There was a long silence, as it was clear to Thorn that neither Dusk nor Luna wanted to be the bait and none of them wanted to tell someone to go down. But someone had to do it and the longer it took to decide, the less time they had to pull it off.

"I guess," Thorn began, before turning her gaze toward the ceiling. There were soft thuds like someone was walking directly above them on the upper floor. Whoever was walking, seemed to be moving farther away until Thorn could no longer hear them.

"Um, didn't all the workers leave?" Dusk asked. "Like, nobody's supposed up there."

"There's the foreman," Luna said.

"That guy was pretty terrified when he ran off," Thorn said as she got up from the chair. "I doubt he'd leave his office."

"Unless he has the cops with him," Dusk added.

"Shit," Thorn muttered, as she remembered the foreman mentioning he would call the cops. Getting caught by the police and facing trespassing charges was the last thing they needed.

"Ugh, we need to go upstairs and make sure it's nothing dangerous," Luna groaned.

Thorn nodded in agreement. It was a risky move, especially if whoever was up there caught them. At best, they were escorted off the property by the police, and at worst, well, Thorn's imagination wandered from ghosts to cultists; either way, it wasn't good. But if they confirmed who was walking around upstairs, they could plan around them.

Looking around, Thorn saw another set of stairs leading to the third story.

"I guess we're going up," Thorn said before she, Luna, and Dusk made their way over to the stairwell.

* * *

In stark contrast to the clean, furnished first and second floors, the third floor was a disaster. The floors and walls were charred and in several spots, plastic tarps and thin plywood boards were all that separated the interior from the elements. Even then, the howling wind violently pounded the tarps and most of the plywood had water damage. Holes in the ceiling were numerous, and one particular location in the hallway where the ceiling had collapsed allowed one to view the rainy sky. And bar a single room by the stairwell, many doors were torn down, their scorched rooms devoid of contents, and many were blocked with yellow construction tape. Altogether, it was an unsafe place and Thorn wished to return to the relative safety of the lower floors as soon as possible.

"Damn, the fire did a number of this place," Dusk said as they continued down the hall.

As they neared the area where they heard the footsteps, Thorn could hear plastic flapping in the wind. Upon reaching the spot where they heard the footsteps, there was a tear in the tarp that was large enough for a person to fit through. The floor in front of the tear was wet from the rain.

"I'm surprised the workers didn't patch this up," Thorn said.

Luna approached the tear, careful to avoid getting wet, and examined it. The cut wasn't clean as it looked like something had clawed its way through the tarp rather than someone cutting through it with a knife.

After a few moments, Luna knelt and looked over the floor.

"This is recent," Luna said without looking away from the floor. "As in the past hour or so."

"How could you tell?" Thorn asked.

"Floor isn't nearly as wet as it would be if it'd been like this for hours," Luna said. She then pointed past the wet spot on the floor. "But it looks like someone was just here."

Turning to where Luna was pointing, Thorn saw a distinct set of footprints heading farther down the hall. Well, at least Thorn initially thought they were standard footprints. While they resembled a human footprint in size and general shape, instead of five toes, there were only three, pointed digits that appeared to be clawed.

"Or something was here," Thorn said, her voice uneasy.

"Could just be a costume," Luna quickly stated, a clear attempt to reassure the group that what made the tracks wasn't dangerous.

"I don't know about that," Thorn replied. She couldn't quite describe it, but the tracks looked too natural to be some kind of footwear. Of course, with how common fake monsters were, she couldn't rule out an elaborate hoax.

"The tracks keep going," Dusk said as she passed Thorn and followed the tracks.

Not wanting to lose sight of Dusk, as well as being a bit curious herself, Thorn went to catch up with Dusk.

"Is just following the tracks a good idea?" Luna nervously asked.

Thorn briefly paused and turned to Luna. "You said it yourself, we need to see what's up here before we deal with the ghost."

Luna sighed. "But is blindly following the tracks the right way of going about that?"

Thorn conceded that just following the footprints wasn't the safest idea, given their recent exploits. But looking down the hall, Thorn saw that Dusk had stopped and was examining something on the wall.

"You two gotta check this out," Dusk called out to them.

Luna groaned but ultimately followed Thorn to where Dusk was standing.

"What do you think made this?" Dusk asked.

Thorn shivered upon seeing a set of three claw marks, easily a quarter-inch deep, scratched onto the wall at about chest height. Dusk raised her hand to the scratches and Thorn winced upon seeing that the marks were wider than Dusk's fingers; the thought of being on the receiving end of the claws of whatever made the marks was enough to reconsider going back downstairs.

"Okay, maybe we shouldn't be up here," Thorn said as she glanced down the hall and the steps leading back to the lower floor.

"Yeah, this was a poor decision," Luna said as she backed away from the wall.

"Wait, you were the one that said we needed to figure out what was up here," Dusk said, turning to face Thorn and Luna.

"We've confirmed that this isn't the police and we have enough on our plate with the ghost," Luna said, not hiding the agitation she felt. "I'm not about to deal with whatever horror is up here."

There was an uneasy silence between the three girls, and it was clear to Thorn that none of them knew what to do next. There was an unknown entity somewhere in the burnt husk of the upper levels, and no one knew if it would interfere with their pitiful plan to reach the presumed treasure in the basement. Thorn sighed. Their best option was to go downstairs and pray that whatever was up here would not venture to the first floor; not exactly the best position to be in.

"I guess we're going back to the basement," Thorn said.

Dusk and Luna slowly nodded. As the three started walking back to the stairwell, Thorn stopped. She felt uneasy as if someone or something was watching them. She scanned the hallway, looking for something out of place or unusual. It took a moment, but she saw that the door of the room closest to the stairwell, about six rooms down, was opened a bit.

"Was that door open when we came up here?" Thorn asked as she pointed at the door in question.

Thud!

The door slammed shut and the girls gasped.

"We're not going past that room," Luna said, visibly shaking.

"Is...there another way downstairs?" Thorn asked without taking her eyes off the door, lest it open and some monster emerged.

"Um…" Luna began as she fumbled through her purse before finding her phone. "Yeah, there's another stairwell on the other side of the floor."

"Then let's get going," Dusk said, tugging on Thorn and Luna's sleeves to get them to leave.

The three girls cautiously backtracked, passing the scratch marks and the mysterious footprints, which made Thorn attentive to their surroundings yet paranoid. Every shadow became a ghost and each creak of the floorboards was a deranged cultist coming to attack them. She'd look over her shoulder every few seconds, certain that something was still watching them and that no matter where they went, they'd never escape its unseen gaze.

"Shit!" Dusk exclaimed as they rounded the corner of the hall. "I guess we're not going this way."

Blocked by a single safety cone and construction tape, a pile of burnt rubble, caused by the floor above collapsing, lay before them. Twisted steel, glass shards, and broken boards of wood poked out from the rubble, their jagged and spiky ends made climbing over the pile impassable unless they wanted to risk tetanus. Worse, looking over the giant pile of rubble revealed several smaller piles and numerous spots on the floor that looked like they could collapse under the slightest bit of weight, rendering the hallway unsafe.

"Great," Thorn groaned as she lowered her head in frustration. "Now we have to go past the creepy fuck behind the door."

"If that creep wants to try something, he's got another thing coming," Dusk said as she drew her dagger.

Despite Dusk's bravado, Thorn felt little assurance.

"You know," Dusk said. "This would be a good time to use your mag-". She stopped and grimaced, the anger and frustration in her eyes were clear. "Magnificent knife that I gave you. We need all the defense we can get."

Thorn bit her lip, repressing an agitated groan, and turned away from Dusk. Even with a looming threat, she still refused to use magic, the fear of accidentally hurting her friends outweighed her fear of the ghost or whatever was upstairs with them. Her desire to protect her friends was there, but as she tried to remind herself of their present predicament, she'd recall in vivid detail how easy it was to kill Cyrus at the temple and how the knife nearly impaled the foreman, and then her fear overcame her.

"Do you still have the knife?" Dusk asked, breaking Thorn from her thoughts.

"Um," Thorn muttered as she rummaged through her purse and frowned when she couldn't find it. "Shit, I think I dropped it in the basement."

Dusk grunted and shook her head. "Of course you did."

"It's not like I lost it on purpose," Thorn said, slightly raising her voice.

"Then use magic," Dusk said, her voice also raised.

"No," Thorn bluntly said, her position on the matter firm.

"Can you two quick bickering for five minutes!" Luna scolded. "It's not only very distracting but could be putting our lives at risk!"

Thorn and Dusk turned to Luna, who the former had completely forgotten wasn't a part of the argument. Dusk went to say something but was quickly cut off by Luna.

"You both need to start acting like adults," Luna continued. "We need to focus on surviving this ordeal and that can't happen if literally every time I leave both of you together you argue. So can you both cut it out until we find this stupid treasure?"

Thorn and Dusk both glanced at each other. It was tiring to continue arguing with Dusk and as Luna had shown, their petty back-and-forth was annoying to others. After a few moments, both girls nodded, agreeing to disagree.

"Good," Luna said in a much calmer tone. "I think there's a way around this debris pile."

Thorn raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Look at the footprints," Luna said.

Thorn glanced at the strange tracks. "What about them?"

"They stop here," Luna explained. "Whatever made them didn't turn around as we'd see another set of tracks heading back the way we came. So there has to be a way around the debris pile."

Looking around, it was clear to Thorn that other than a closed hotel room, there wasn't anywhere obvious to go.

"What? Did it go through the room?" Thorn asked.

Luna nodded.

"So you're saying whatever we're following is in there?" Dusk reasoned.

"If my hunch is right, not necessarily," Luna said as she approached the door.

"Not necessarily," Thorn gasped, alarmed by Luna's uncertainty over the matter.

Thorn tensed up as she watched Luna reach for the doorknob, the keyboardist's hand visibly shaking as she gripped the doorknob. Dusk stepped aside and braced herself, dagger ready and Thorn moved behind her. For several anxious seconds, Thorn could only watch as the door creaked open, unsure if something would lunge from behind the door and attack Luna. But instead of crying or screaming, Luna sighed and Dusk lowered her dagger. Thorn felt a sense of relief wash over her as the room was empty.

"Looks like I was right," Luna said as she entered the room.

Thorn and Dusk followed her, and to Thorn's surprise, the room was emptier than she anticipated as it was just one empty, square room. But more interestingly, the walls perpendicular to the door were gone leaving behind a wooden frame that allowed her to look into the neighboring room. In fact, she could peer all the way down to the room at the end of the hall as all rooms were lacking the same pair of walls, forming a makeshift hallway.

"The construction workers probably removed the old walls damaged in the fire," Luna explained as she pointed to the miscellaneous tools and equipment scattered in some of the other rooms.

Regardless of why the walls were gone, it provided a path to get around the collapsed ceiling, which Thorn realized was where whatever left the footprints went. With that knowledge, Thorn scanned the floor for the tracks

"Um Luna," Thorn said. "Where are the footprints?"

"That's a good question," Luna replied, scratching her head.

There should've been footprints. The tracks just outside the doorway in the hall were quite wet, even after walking at least couple hundred feet from their source. And if the person or creature came this way, there would be tracks in the room. Yet there was nothing.

On the floor anyway.

How she managed to spot it, she didn't know, but caught upon an exposed nail on one of the frames located well over their heads was a piece of black cloth. Thorn walked over to the cloth and standing on her toes, managed to pluck it from the nail.

 _What the hell?_ A chill went down her spine as she held the dark cloth and she was tempted to drop it. It was cold, far colder than it should be. Unnaturally even. And this made her uneasy. At the same time, the cloth felt brittle and damp, and there was a subtle unsavory scent to it that resembled rotten eggs.

"What'd you find?" Luna asked as she and Dusk approached Thorn.

"Some kind of cloth," Thorn answered, handing the fabric to Luna. Much to her relief, the chilliness and the uneasiness she felt vanished. But her relief was fleeting; Luna nearly jumped back as the cloth disintegrated in her hands

"Luna, what did you do to it?" Dusk asked in a half-serious, half-joking tone.

"Nothing!" Luna shouted. "It just turned to dust!"

"Um, did it feel...cold to you?" Thorn nervously interjected _._

"No," Luna said. "But it did stink."

 _Shit!_ That all but confirmed that there was something unnatural about the piece of cloth. She shuddered. _But why was it only cold when I held it?_ She flinched at the sudden realization. _Does this have something to do with me being a wit…_ Thorn shook her head.

"You okay Thorn?" Luna asked.

"Hmm? Oh um, yeah. I'm fine," Thorn hastily replied. "I was just thinking about, er nevermind. Let's just get out of here before whatever came through here comes back."

She squeezed through an opening in the wooden frames and entered the neighboring room with Luna and Dusk following her. She made it across the empty room before stopping at the next framework. She winced upon smelling the same rotten egg odor that lingered on the cloth, though it was a bit stronger.

"Damn, that's nasty!" Dusk grunted as she pinched her nose.

"Must be a gas leak somewhere," Luna said with a grimace.

They continued onward, moving between the bare rooms, and with every room, the smell worsened.

"Ugh, Thorn do you have any incense on you?" Dusk groaned.

"Yeah, I think so," Thorn said, looking through her purse. While unusual to others, Thorn often carried sage, claiming it was for religious purposes. In actuality, she liked the scent of sage and it reminded her of her mother as she would burn it when Thorn was little. As a result, Thorn would burn sage wherever she could get away with it.

After a few moments, Thorn removed a bundle of white leaves and sticks, as well as a lighter, from her purse. She lit the sage, the orange glow of the ember a welcoming sight in the sea gray and black, and soon the fragrant aroma filled the room, dispelling the unpleasant odor.

 _I should've done this sooner,_ Thorn thought, a small smile spreading across her face. For the first time in quite a while, she felt calm and relaxed. She had her friends and the familiar scent of sage with her. Perhaps things would get better and after going through several rooms without incident, Thorn believed it. But then they reached the sixth room, the midway point.

The small glow of the ember faded upon entering the room, and the scent of sage was smothered by the rotten egg smell, which returned with a vengeance. But as Dusk and Luna gagged on the overwhelming smell, Thorn wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, dropping the bundle of sage.

"Uh, it's not that cold in here," Dusk said.

"W-Well, I'm fr-freezing," Thorn said through clattering teeth.

"No kidding," Dusk replied. "Guess the crop top wasn't the best decision." She removed her jacket and handed it to Thorn.

Without hesitation, Thorn took Dusk's jacket, thanked her, and put it on. While it was a bit tight, Thorn gladly accepted anything to reduce the coldness. But even with two jackets, the extra layer did little to stop the shivering.

"Okay, something is definitely wrong if you're still cold," Luna said. "Maybe we should just go back, especially if the cold and smell are going to get worse."

"Y-yeah let's g-get out..." Thorn paused as the coldness suddenly vanished, along with the unpleasant smell.

"Um, okay," Thorn mumbled as she returned the jacket to Dusk. The three girls stood there, dumbstruck over the abrupt disappearance of the smell and coldness.

"Should we keep going?" Luna asked.

"I guess," Thorn replied as Dusk just shrugged.

They cautiously continued through the remaining rooms without incident, much to Thorn's relief, and eventually reached the corner room. They exited the room and were at the intersection of two hallways.

"There's the stairwell," Luna said as she pointed at a nearby metal door.

"Great, now let's get the hell out of here," Dusk said as she made her way to the door.

But as Dusk reached for the door handle, Thorn couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Maybe it was the charred metal frame that made the door look more foreboding than it really was or perhaps it was the few flies buzzing around the tiny window, but for whatever reason, Thorn felt that if Dusk opened the stairwell door, something terrible would happen.

"Don't," Thorn said, grabbing Dusk's arm before she could open the door.

"Why not?" Dusk grunted as she pulled her arm away from Thorn.

"Something bad will happen if you do," Thorn answered.

"What exactly will happen?" Luna asked.

"I don't know," Thorn said as she looked over the door, hoping to spot something to justify her wariness for opening the door. But other than a couple of bugs, there was nothing.

Both Luna and Dusk sighed, both undoubtedly frustrated with her peculiar behavior. First running off in the basement after she "sensed" something, then again a few minutes ago with suddenly getting cold. She didn't blame them for it. She was annoyed with herself as well, as she had no explanation for them other than being a witch, which didn't bode well for her. And now it was happening again with her irrational fear of opening this particular door.

"I think you're just paranoid," Dusk said.

"I'm not," Thorn defended. "I just know we shouldn't open that door."

"I have to agree with Dusk on this one, I think you're a little too on edge right now with everything that's happened," Luna said, much to Thorn's chagrin.

"Look, I know I've been acting weird and I'm just as confused about it as you guys, but you need to trust me on this," Thorn said.

Dusk and Luna glanced at each other, both of them shaking their heads.

"Sorry Thorn, but we're wasting time up here," Dusk said and she reached for the door.

"Dusk, please don't!" Thorn begged.

Dusk groaned as she backed away from the door. "What now, and don't say 'I don't know'."

"Well," Thorn began. "I think we should, um..." _I have no fucking idea what I'm doing._ Thorn looked away from her friends, pretending to formulate some grand plan, even though they likely saw through her facade. _Ugh, why am I acting so weird? Why can't I just walk down the stairs like a normal person?_

"Ugh, this is taking too long," Dusk said, interrupting Thorn from her thoughts.

Thorn turned around and watched in fear as Dusk approached the door.

"Wait Jane, don-" Thorn's attention quickly shifted from Dusk to the end of the hall. Hovering about four to five feet off the ground, was a pulsating, blue-gray ball of light, somewhat resembling a flame, roughly the size of a basketball. The light swirled around in the air, growing in brightness when it neared the ceiling and dimming as it approached the floor yet never hitting either surface.

"Are you guys seeing this?" Thorn asked without looking away from the light.

"Uh, no," Dusk said, pulling her hand from the door.

"What are we supposed to be seeing?" Luna asked.

"There's a light," Thorn said, only somewhat recognizing that her friends couldn't see it.

"What kind of light?" Luna asked.

Thorn didn't answer, she was mesmerized by the spectacle before her. Despite the strangeness of the situation, Thorn felt oddly at peace. She wasn't afraid, a stark contrast to the previous unexplained occurrences that happened to her, and there was a sense of comfort she felt in the presence of the light. She wanted to be closer to the light, to feel safe. She knew there was a risk, tales of will-o'-the-wisps and other spook lights leading folks astray came to mind, but that sense of safety and comfort was so tantalizing that she disregarded those thoughts and approached the light.

Thorn only took a few steps before the light became still and its brightness fixed. It then flickered three times, as if winking at her to get her attention, before moving farther down the hall.

 _Is...is it trying to tell me something?_ Thorn quickened her pace, eager to catch up to the light and see if her hunch was right.

"Where the hell are you going!" Dusk shouted from behind before she and Luna ran to catch up with Thorn.

"The light's getting away!" Thorn hastened her pace into a run as the light sped up.

But upon reaching the end of the hall, the light stopped. It flickered three more times before darting into a room. Thorn quickly arrived at the room the light entered and looked inside. The light was hovering in the center of an otherwise empty room.

"What are you? What did you lead me here?" Thorn asked the light.

The flickering light flew around in a circle before darting into the ground and disappearing.

"No!" Thorn shouted as she ran to where the light vanished. She dropped to her knees and ran her hands over the spot the light went through, desperate to find a loose floorboard, a marking, or anything to indicate the importance of the spot. But there was nothing.

"Jeez Thorn, you can't keep running off like that," Luna scolded from the doorway.

"Sorry, but there was a light and I think it wanted me to follow it," Thorn said, still searching the floor.

"There was no light," Luna said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, I didn't see it either," Dusk added.

"Yes, there was," Thorn said, raising her voice and standing up. "I saw it. It was a flickering blue light and it flew down the hallway before going into this room."

Luna shook her head. "Even if what you said was true, what made you think it was a good idea to run after it?"

"Well, I felt safe around it," Thorn said, crossing her arms.

"Oh okay, glad you felt safe Thorn," Luna said, glaring at the Wiccan. "But what about Dusk and I? I sure as hell didn't feel safe when you ran off and left us by some door that you were convinced if we opened, something bad would happen."

Thorn tried to respond but ended up saying nothing. She bit her lip and glanced away from her angered friend, too ashamed to look at her. _Luna's right. I left them in danger. Again. Ugh, what the fuck is wrong with me!?_ _Why do I keep making the most selfish choices?_ She sighed before finally mustering the courage to respond to Luna.

"You're right Luna. I left you guys behind. It was a shitty thing for me to do and I'm truly sorry," Thorn said, her head hung low. She sighed. What she was about to say probably wasn't going to go over well with Luna, but she needed to say it. "But I know what I saw. There was a light and it wanted me to follow it. Does it excuse my actions? No, of course not, but you need to believe me."

Luna sighed as she entered the room and approached Thorn. "Honestly, you probably did see a light but that's irrelevant." Her voice was calmer but still irate. "You left us in a potentially dangerous situation for the second time today. I can't overlook that. Not after supporting you when you were at your lowest." There was a brief silence before Luna spoke. "I know it's been a rough few days, but this isn't like you at all and that worries me. "

Thorn didn't bother to respond. How could she? She broke Luna's trust and hurt her in a way no ghost or cultist ever could. To say she felt guilty was an understatement; knowing she hurt Luna made her physically ill. And that was just with Luna. Dusk's uncharacteristic silence regarding the matter was unnerving. _I fucked up._ Those words kept repeating in her mind like a broken record. _I fucked up._ She could feel the tears well up in her eyes. _No._ She shut her eyes and clenched her fists. _I can fix this. Somehow I will._

"I think you're being too tough on her."

The sudden comment from Dusk broke Thorn from her thoughts. Thorn opened her eyes and turned to Dusk. She was standing in the doorway, not really looking at either of them as she twirled her hair.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked, seemingly just as confused as Thorn was.

"You're blaming her for stuff she can't control," Dusk said, turning to face Luna.

"Like what?"

"Her being a witch."

Thorn felt a bit of tenseness upon hearing that word. "What does that have to do with me being a selfish prick?"

"Oh ditching us was still a prick move, but it's not entirely your fault. You're clearly sensitive to the supernatural due to being a witch, so you're seeing and feeling all this weird shit. Since you're not used to this and you refuse to use your magic, you don't know how to react, so you panic and make stupid decisions."

"Wait, are you really blaming the supernatural for her actions? Two minutes ago you said she was being paranoid," Luna said.

"I know, but after this, I think that's what's happening," Dusk said, finally stepping into the room. "And Thorn needs to get over not using her magic so we can survive this."

It wasn't a notion Thorn wanted to accept—the less of her magical side the better—but it made sense. Bar the smell and seeing the ghost, all the supernatural events were happening only to her. But Thorn winced as she entertained a new thought: it was an easy way to excuse her behavior. She shook her head. _No excuses. I'm not blaming my mistakes on outside forces._

Unfortunately, the time for self-reflection came to an abrupt end when the door slammed shut with enough force to rattle the room.

"What the fuck!" Dusk shouted as the three of them jumped back in surprise.

Luna ran over to the door. "It's stuck!" She couldn't even turn the doorknob, let alone open the door.

"No, no, no, no," Thorn said, as she rushed over to the door. She grabbed the doorknob and tried opening the door. It didn't open, it was as if something was forcing the door shut.

"We're fucking dead!" Dusk said pacing back and forth in the room.

Thorn trembled as she tried in vain to open the door again but they were trapped. "This can't be happening!"

Bang!

The girls flinched upon hearing the sound of metal crashing coming from down the hall. Thorn's eyes widened and her heart was pounding as she realized what she heard: the stairwell door being broken down.

"You were right," Luna whispered, though it sounded more like a fearful whimper.

"Then there's som-AGHHH!" Thorn screamed, clutching her shoulder, as a searing pain originating from the mark rapidly spread across her body. She collapsed to the floor, writhing and screaming as the pain worsened. Every cell in her body was in agony, burning, not unlike when the Fallen burnt her on a wooden stake.

"What hell is happening!?" Dusk shouted as she and Luna ran to Thorn.

"I don't know!" Luna cried, pulling her hair in panic. "It happened earlier but it wasn't this bad," She moved Thorn away from the door and walls so she wouldn't hit them and injure herself.

"AGHHH! MAKE IT STOP!" Thorn shrieked.

And as if on cue, the pain subsided. Thorn whimpered as she lay on the floor, tears streaming down her face. Luna and Dusk helped her up, though they had to hold her up as Thorn was shaking and her body still ached.

"You alright?" Luna softly said.

Thorn nodded as she wiped her eyes between sniffles. "Thanks...I'm okay. I think I can stand on my own." Her friends let her go, and she wobbled for a moment before catching her balance.

Creak.

Thorn froze. Despite being on the other side of the hall, she could hear floorboards creaking under an intense weight, far heavier than a person.

Creak.

_It can't be._

Creeaak.

"Footsteps," Thorn gasped.

Creeaak.

Thorn winced as the rotten egg smell returned. The three girls unknowingly backed away from the door.

Creeaak.

"We're fucked!" Dusk cried.

"There's gotta be a way out," Thorn said. She stumbled over to a window on the far side of the room, but quickly realized it was a non-opening one.

Creeaak.

Thorn scoured the walls, hoping to find a hidden passageway or anything that could lead to their escape. But there was nothing but blackened walls.

"There's no way out," Luna said, stressfully pulling her hair.

"No, there has to be," Thorn said, panting. But it was clear that there was no other way out and Thorn hit the wall in resignation.

Creeeaaak!

It was close. Perhaps outside the neighboring room. The smell had become so unbearable that Thorn felt nauseated, and her friends didn't appear to be handling it much better as they covered their mouths and noses with their arms.

Creeeaaak!

The girls were silent, none daring to even breathe loudly. Thorn's heart pounded against her chest and sweat beaded on her forehead. She couldn't move. All she could do was watch the door and wait in dreadful silence for the next footfall.

Creeeaaaaak!

A cold chill crept up her spine. Thorn wanted to run. Or cry. But she felt paralyzed, like a deer trapped in headlights, unable to move and evade the incoming threat. She trembled as the slit between the door and the floor darkened.


	8. Got Ghosts?

12:50 PM

All Thorn could do was stand still in ghastly silence. Waiting. Waiting for whatever was on the other side of the door to make its move, unsure if each subdued breath and hastened heartbeat would be her last. Yet the entity remained in the hallway as if waiting for the Hex Girls to make their move before striking.

How long she stood there, Thorn did not know. It couldn't have been more than a minute or two, but it felt unending, like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from, and with each passing second, she suffered. Physically, she fought to keep herself from vomiting from the stench of rot and decay that permeated the room. But the mental anguish was worse. She brought Dusk and Luna here, all because she thought that a fantastical light would bring her to safety. And now she could barely look at them. Luna covered her mouth in an attempt to keep herself from hyperventilating, no doubt on the verge of a panic attack. Dusk cowered behind them with a look of pure terror on her face. A single tear fell down Thorn's face. She told them she'd protect them. And she failed to do so.

The sound of scratching caused Thorn to flinch, jostling her out of her thoughts. The entity outside was clawing at the door. But to Thorn's surprise, it wasn't an attempt to break the door down, which she reasoned it could easily do, but rather it was a careful, systematic score. After another unnerving minute of confusion and fear, the scratching stopped. The floorboards creaked and the smell faded as the entity slowly crept down the hall, returning to where it came from.

Thorn let out a long sigh of relief as she hugged Dusk and Luna.

"I'm so sorry," Thorn said, hugging her friends tighter.

"It's...alright," Luna replied with an exhausted sigh.

"Hey we're still alive, that's gotta count for something," Dusk said, cracking a smile that failed to mask her anxiety.

They remained embraced for another minute or so before Thorn released them.

"I shouldn't have brought us here," Thorn said.

"No, I think you were right about that light," Luna said between short breaths. "I think it was protecting us from whatever was scratching at the door. That's why you felt safe and probably why the thing outside didn't break down the door."

Luna had a point and was likely correct, but Thorn shook her head. "I mean the Regal Hotel. We should've just stayed at our hotel and prepared for the interview." Thorn paused and looked away from her friends. "It's become too dangerous and I've failed to keep us safe. It's best we just get out before things get worse."

"Hold up," Dusk said. "Didn't the Broken say bad shit was gonna happen if we didn't find the treasure?"

"Are ghosts and...whatever was on the other side of the door not bad enough?" Thorn asked. "I've already screwed up and put you both in harm's way. I'm not doing that again."

Thorn walked toward the door with her head hung low, passing her friends.

"Wait," Luna said before Thorn could leave. "As much as I hate to say it, we have to stay."

"You're the one who didn't want to come here in the first place," Thorn scoffed.

"I know," Luna said. "But after this...incident…I think there's more going on here than we realize."

"Woah, I thought I was the one into conspiracies," Dusk said with a slight chuckle.

"The only reason we're alive is because Thorn followed a random light into this room," Luna said. "We're either the luckiest people on the planet or something intervened. And based on what happened last night, I'd say it's the latter. Possibly the Broken or something sent by the Broken."

Thorn scoffed at that idea. Sure, the Broken had intervened on their behalf before and was the reason they were even here in the first place. But to save them from some unknown ghost or monster? He didn't save them from the ghost in the basement. And when he gave her instructions to find the treasure, he didn't give her any helpful information regarding the treasure's specific location or even what it was. Hell, she still didn't know the Broken's true motive for helping her.

"Yeah right," Thorn said with a dismissive laugh.

"Unless whatever was outside was messing with us, I don't know how else to explain what just happened," Luna stated. "I think Dusk's right, there's something supernatural going on. And I'm not just talking about the ghost in the basement."

Thorn shook her head as she reached the door. She heard her phone vibrate. A quick check revealed that they were nothing but some email alerts, but groaned upon seeing the time. 12:54. They had just over two hours to find the treasure and were nowhere near locating it.

"If the Broken wants us to find this treasure, then he needs to give us another miracle cause we're never going to find it in time," Thorn said as she grabbed the doorknob. Unlike last time, the door opened with no effort.

She stepped into the hallway. At the end of the hall, she saw the metal doors were torn off their hinges, now twisted into a barely recognizable shape. Thorn shuddered. It was time to go, the treasure be damned. She headed down the hall, intent to go down the stairwell they originally came from.

"Hey, there's something on the door," Dusk called to Thorn.

Thorn turned around. Dusk and Luna were examining what looked like simple claw marks on the door. But as she got closer, it became clear that wasn't just scratch marks. She shuddered at what she saw. Scratched onto the door were three words:

I FOUND YOU

"We're leaving now," Thorn nervously stated. She grabbed both Luna and Dusk by the arm, ready to drag them out of the hotel if needed.

They didn't get far before Dusk and Luna freed themselves from Thorn's grip. Luna motioned for Thorn and Dusk to halt as she quietly moved to the opposite wall.

Thorn glared at Luna. "We need to le-"

"Shhhh!" Luna hushed.

"What is it?" Thorn whispered.

Luna didn't answer. Thorn and Dusk shot each other a confused glance.

"Listen," Luna whispered.

Thorn listened. While they were separated by several rooms, Thorn could hear footsteps coming from the first hallway they walked through. They were softer, nothing like the footsteps they heard earlier. Luna tiptoed to the door across from the room they had been trapped in and opened the door. Thorn and Dusk followed as Luna entered the room. To Thorn's surprise, there was a person-sized hole in the wall that led into the room where the door slammed shut when they first reached the third story. As they walked into the second room, the footsteps became more distinguishable.

"There's a person by the stairwell," Thorn said.

Luna nodded as they reached the far door. Luna cracked the door open and Thorn peeked through. She couldn't see anyone, but it was clear that someone was on the stairwell.

"Who is it?" Luna quietly asked. "The foreman? The police?"

"I don't know, I can't see them," Thorn replied.

There was a loud creak as the stairwell door opened and someone entered the hallway.

"Shit! Don't let them see you," Dusk said as she closed the door.

Unfortunately, Dusk pulled the door with more force than she should've, causing the door to shut loudly. The person outside gasped in surprise. Judging by how the person sounded, Thorn guessed it was a man.

"Damnit Dusk! Now they know we're here!" Thorn scowled.

"Will you two shut it!" Luna responded.

Whoever was outside was slowly approaching the door.

"Fuck! What do we do!?" Thorn gasped.

"Let's get back to the other room and wait him out," Luna suggested.

Thorn nodded as she and Luna quietly backed away from the door.

"Fuck that, I'm tired of running away. We have the element of surprise for once. Let's jump this fucker," Dusk said with a devilish grin as she drew her dagger. "I bet he's the one scaring us."

"You can't be serious," Luna said shaking her head.

Dusk grabbed the doorknob and braced herself against the door. The person outside stopped outside the door. As the doorknob began to turn, Dusk made her move.

"Dusk don't do this," Thorn pleaded, but it was to no avail.

"AHHH!" Dusk shouted as she threw the door open with as much force as possible. There was a loud thud and the man shouted. Thorn could only catch a glimpse of the man from behind Dusk. The man stumbled backward before regaining his balance. He then took off running down the hallway in the direction of the rubble.

"Are you fucking crazy!" Luna shouted.

"Come on, we can get him!" Dusk said, ignoring Luna.

"No! Let's leave before we screw up anything else," Thorn said, trying to salvage their terrible situation.

But Dusk was already out the door in pursuit of the unknown person, dagger drawn and ready to fight. "Thorn go the other way and cut him off!" she shouted before disappearing around the corner.

"Dusk!" Luna shouted as she chased after her.

Thorn grunted in frustration as Luna left. Dusk just assaulted someone and they lost their best chance to leave. Without much of a choice, Thorn turned around and ran down the other hallway. Maybe she could catch the guy before Dusk caught him and made their situation worse.

Thorn ran as fast as she could down the hall. Even with several rooms between them, she could hear Dusk shouting at the poor bastard she was pursuing. Though as she neared the end of the hall, she wondered who exactly they were chasing. She doubted it was the police, and from what little she saw of the guy, he didn't look like the foreman. _What if he's the cultist the Fallen sent? What if he's the one who scratched 'I Found You' into the door?_ She shuddered at that thought before shaking her head. ' _No. He couldn't be a cultist. Why would he run? And the creature went down a different stairwell. No, he's someone else. I hope._

"OW!"

Thorn fell backward and hit the ground hard. There was a thud, followed by a crack of some electronic device. Thorn groaned as she sat up, rubbing her head. Outside of maybe a bruise, she was fine. But her concern quickly shifted to the person she ran into. Laying before her was a guy with brown hair, roughly her age, wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a white ghost logo that reminded her of the Ghostbusters with the letters M.A.P.S written in a squiggly and spooky font, a black jacket, a pair of jeans and work boots. More curiously, he wore a belt with numerous electronic devices and was holding a flashlight and a camcorder.

"Ugh," he groaned as he sat himself up.

"Are you okay?" Thorn asked as she scrambled to her feet and helped the guy up.

"I'm fine," he muttered. "But my camera's seen better days." He raised his camera. The lens was cracked and there was a large dent on the side that hit the floor.

"I am so sorry," Thorn said, cringing at the sight of the camera that she broke.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Both Thorn and the man jumped as Dusk came running around the corner. Dusk skidded to a stop upon seeing Thorn.

"Good job Thorn, you caught him," Dusk said with a smile as Luna finally came around the corner, winded from the sprint.

But before Thorn could respond, Dusk pointed her knife at the cameraman. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

"Jeez, you can't just threaten people," Thorn said, stepping between the two.

"I could ask you the same thing," the guy said, looking past Thorn and at Dusk, unfazed by the blonde's actions.

"I asked you first," Dusk demanded.

The man crossed his arms. "My name's Brian Kent. I'm a paranormal investigator with M.A.P.S., the Mid Atlantic Paranormal Society. My team and I were hired to look into reports of a ghost scaring construction workers. I was going to check in with the foreman when I heard screaming upstairs, so I went upstairs to investigate." He glared at the three girls. "Then I was assaulted with a door, chased by a crazy chick with a knife before finally having my camera broken by another girl. Now I'll ask you three the same thing: who the hell are you three and why are you here?"

Thorn's face reddened with embarrassment. _Jeez, we fucked this up_. "I'm Thorn, this is Luna and Dusk." Thorn flinched as she mentioned their names. She regretted not giving him their birth names and keeping their identities safe, but if Brian knew they were the Hex Girls, he made no indication of it. Thorn uneasily brushed her bangs aside. She didn't want to tell him the entire truth about why they were here, as she doubted he would believe her. "We were in town and wanted to see if the hauntings were true and we, um, scared ourselves."

"And we were about to leave," Luna quickly added, her face also a tad flushed. "Again, we're terribly sorry for what happened here." She elbowed Dusk.

"Yeah, um, I'm sorry for um, chasing you with a knife," Dusk said as she lowered her knife, seemingly as awkwardly as possible.

"Do you three even have permission to be here?" Brain with a stern look.

"Er, no," Thorn reluctantly replied.

"So you're all trespassing."

The three girls were silent.

"I'm going to the foreman and reporting this to the police," Brian said, walking past the girls.

"No! Please don't," Thorn pleaded, grabbing his hand.

"Your psychotic friend threatened and chased me with a knife and you broke my camera," Brain replied, pulling his hand from her grip. "And you all are interfering with my work."

"I...I'll pay for the camera," Thorn said, lowering her voice.

"Yeah you will," Brain said without looking back as he headed toward the room that made passing the collapsed ceiling possible.

 _Shit. Shit. Shit. Don't let him call the police._ Her mind raced with possibilities to stop him, including just running away, but none of them would work. Thorn turned to her panicked friends. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," Luna said, trying to remain calm and collected. "But if he presses charges, we're screwed."

"Ugh, Gus is gonna kill us," Dusk groaned.

"None of this is helping!" Thorn fumed.

"Okay, okay!" Luna stammered, rubbing her head. "Let's think this through."

"Thorn just flirt your way out of this," Dusk nonchalantly suggested.

"Doubt it'll work now given how pissed he is at us," Thorn said with a sigh.

"The ghost!" Luna blurted out. "We can show him where the ghost is!"

Thorn smiled with excitement. _That just might work._ She quickly turned around and motioned for her friends to follow. She entered the room and ran after Brian, who had made it to the adjacent room.

"Brain wait!" Thorn called out to him.

Brain kept walking without looking back. "What now?"

"We saw the ghost," Thorn said.

Brian stopped. "You did?"

"Yes, we saw it about an hour ago," Thorn answered as she, Dusk, and Luna caught up with Brain.

"Where?" he asked, turning around.

Thorn finally had leverage. As much as she didn't want to be manipulative, she couldn't have him call the police. "We'll show you but you can't call the police."

Brian crossed his arms and grimaced. While she put on a confident facade, Thorn was worried. All he had to do was say no and they'd be screwed. She looked back at her fellow Hex Girls. Luna shot a worried glance at her and was about to whisper something but Thorn raised her hand to tell her to wait.

"Alright, if you can lead me to the alleged ghost AND I find evidence of it, I won't call the police," Brain said, crossing his arms.

Thorn's eyes brightened and she ever so slightly smiled, as she tried to contain her excitement and relief while maintaining her confident persona. Things were starting to look up for her.

"But you still owe me for the camera," Brain stated before pointing at Dusk. "And I want her at least six feet away from me at all times."

"Done." Thorn swiftly affirmed. "I'll get you the money for the camera."

"And...I'll behave," Dusk said, raising her hands to show him that she had sheathed the knife as she took two large steps backward.

"Good. Now show me where the ghost was," Brian said, motioning for Thorn to lead the way.

* * *

"This is it," Thorn said as the four of them stood before the now-closed basement door. She ran her hand through her hair as she nervously watched Brian open the door. She didn't want to be here. Not that she had much of a choice. She had briefly toyed with showing Brian the broken stairwell doors on the third story and telling him about whatever found them upstairs but decided against it. She wanted to be as far away from that...thing….as possible. So it was reluctantly off to the basement Of course, the ghost was an issue but to her surprise that wasn't scaring her. But the magic she felt, and how she almost used her magic, scared her. Even after everything she went through today, she still wasn't willing to use her magic.

"Wow that door is heavy," Brian said with an exhausted sigh upon opening the door.

"Yeah, it took two of us to open it last time," Thorn said, putting on a confident smile.

But her confident smile quickly faded once she gazed into the darkness. The only reasons why she didn't run off were that Brain would call the police and that she couldn't sense any magic.

Brian turned on his flashlight and proceeded down the basement steps, though stopped only a couple of steps down.

"Basement's pretty big, can one of you show me the specific spot where you saw the ghost?" he asked.

"Um, Dusk was the one who got the best look at it," Thorn said.

"Hey don't throw me under the bus," Dusk scolded. "You saw it down there too and you can sens-"

"And Brian doesn't want you anywhere near him," Luna interrupted before Dusk could reveal that Thorn had magic, much to Thorn's relief. That was another thing she was worried about. What if Brian (or anyone else) found out about her magic. She was only comfortable with just Dusk and Luna knowing.

"Fine, I'll show him," Thorn sighed. She headed down the basement steps, with Luna and Dusk following her in that order. She passed Brian and led them into the basement. With the brighter flashlight, Thorn was able to spot a lightswitch, but she frowned when flipping it did nothing.

"I guess we're stuck with flashlights," Luna said.

"Hmm, now where was the ghost?" Brian asked.

Thorn shrugged. "I don't know, it just appeared randomly all over the basement."

"And it even appeared at the top of the basement steps," Luna added.

Brian scanned the basement with the flashlight, revealing numerous boxes, furniture, and other assorted items. But no ghost.

"We need to find those X's," Dusk said. "That's where I first saw the ghost."

"And where are they?" Brian inquired.

"Along the wall," Dusk replied. "But you go down there, the ghost is gonna get pissed."

"Yeah, it chased us out of the basement," Thorn said, hoping that this information would convince Brian to head back upstairs.

"Interesting," Brian said as he moved closer to the wall and motioned for the Hex Girls to lead the way.

Thorn only had a vague memory of the X's as she was more preoccupied with the magic she felt. Surprisingly, Thorn still couldn't detect that magic. Perhaps that meant the ghost wasn't here. That thought brought her some comfort as she moved farther into the basement. Yet with each step, she was certain that either the ghost would appear or she'd sense the magic. But neither happened.

She was so engrossed with her worries that she would've passed the yellow X on the wall had the companions not stopped.

"Here it is," Dusk said, pointing out the marking.

Brian leaned down and examined the marking. "Do you know what it means?"

"We're not sure," Thorn answered. She thought about telling him about the treasure but stopped herself. She didn't want to reveal their motive for being here, partially because saying they were looking for a treasure was weird and could be interpreted as looting, but also because they didn't know Brian or trust him.

"It could be something left by the construction workers," Luna quickly countered, breaking Thorn from her thoughts.

Brian examined the X for a few more moments before standing back up. "Hmm, I wonder if this might have to do with the treasure?"

"Wait, you know about the treasure?" Thorn asked, a small smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah, I do my research before investigating a location," Brian said with a smirk. "According to most stories, the people who built the Regal Hotel, a group of mystics or cultists depending on the variation, hid a bunch of valuables somewhere on the property. And as with most urban legends, what the treasure is varies with whoever's telling it, with some of the more common suggestions being money or important religious artifacts."

"Did you happen to find out where it's hidden?" Thorn asked.

"Not really," Brian said, shaking his head. "Pretty much every room has been suggested at one point."

"Oh," Thorn said with a frown. She thought perhaps they'd be able to find the treasure if Brian had additional information to help narrow the search. But that idea quickly went up in smoke.

"Anyway," Brain said. "Is this where the ghost was?"

"Yes! This is where the ghost appeared," Thorn affirmed.

Brian shined his light around, searching for the ghost. He then pulled what looked like a TV remote with a screen and a few buttons. He pressed one button and the screen lit up, showing a bunch of numbers. He held the device out and after a few moments, the numbers changed.

"Hmm, EMF readings are normal, but we'll wait a minute to be sure," Brian said.

"Hmpf."

Thorn turned and saw Luna trying not to laugh.

"What is it?" Thorn whispered.

"He's using an EMF reader to detect ghosts," Luna scoffed.

"And? Isn't that normal for ghost hunters?" Thorn replied.

"Yeah but that doesn't make it reliable," Luna said crossing her arms. "That device isn't designed to detect ghosts, only electromagnetic radiation emitted by electrical appliances. Wires and even our phones could set off a spike. The entirety of hunting ghosts with technology like EMF readers is based on using random errors, glitches, and confirmation bias to get results. It's garbage."

"Well this 'garbage' just found something," Brian said with a snarky tone.

Luna stuttered and silenced herself, and under normal circumstances, Thorn would call Luna out on being wrong, but her curiosity got the best of her; she quickly turned and saw Brian pointing the EMF reader at the ceiling.

"Is it the ghost?" Dusk asked as she tried to squeeze between Thorn and Luna so she could get a better look.

Brian walked a few feet away from the wall and stopped at some boxes.

"There's something behind these boxes," he said, shining his light at the suspicious area.

Thorn approached the spot and it was clear that several boxes were positioned to cover something. She went over to go remove the boxes

Thud!

They all turned toward the source of the noise and Brian shined his light at the spot. About sixty feet away was a box that had fallen to the floor.

"This is what happened when I first saw the ghost," Dusk warned.

"There's your evidence, now let's get out of here," Thorn said as she started backing away from the boxes. The memory of what happened the last time flooded her mind, and she was worried that she'd accidentally used her magic and hurt someone.

"A box falling isn't evidence of anything," Brain asserted. "I need more."

"Um, d-does that count as e-evidence," Dusk stammered as she pointed behind him and Thorn.

Thorn's heart raced as she and Brian slowly turned around.

"GET OUT!" the hooded phantom screeched as it rose into the air.

Thorn could feel her magic flowing through her. Small sparks of green energy crackled around her hand. _No!_ She clutched her hand and pulled it to her chest, the sparks of energy dissipating.

Brian sighed and turned to face the ghost. "So this is the ghost, huh," he said, looking at the ghost with pure curiosity.

"What? We need to leave!" Thorn shouted as the ghost raised a macabre arm, ready to strike at them.

Yet Brian remained there and Thorn could've sworn she saw him frown like he was disappointed. Thorn brushed it off as an effect of the low-light-level and pulled him out of the way of the ghost's strike.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Dusk shouted as she and Luna quickly ran back to the stairs.

Thorn didn't need to be told to do so, as she was right on her friends' heels. She briefly looked back as she didn't hear Brian behind her, but sighed with relief as he came running into view. But that relief quickly faded as the ghost was behind him, screeching and swiping at Brian.

"Go!" he shouted.

Thorn reached the steps and could see Dusk and Luna reach the relative safety of the top. She rushed up the stairs, nearly tripping over the steps from the darkness, before tumbling into the light.

**Author's Note:**

> End Note: I won't be doing this often, but there are two references I wanted to point out. Thorn's mother's name being June and Thorn having an ex-boyfriend named Alastair are references to the fanfiction "It's a Hex Life" by Grumpydrawer, which if you haven't, you should read as it's a good Hex Girls centric fanfic.


End file.
